Ask Me Before Someone Else Does
by wyredsisters
Summary: In her fourth year, Hermione Granger finds herself in a relationship. With Fred Weasley. Can she keep it from her best friends? And what happens when Ron realizes that he wants to be in a relationship with Hermione as well? DH spoilers! Completed!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey. I'm trying to write a story that's been stuck in my head since I read DH. I know, I haven't written in forever, but I'm gonna try it. It does take place in scenes from Goblet of Fire on to Deadly Hallows. It will contain spoilers, so don't read this if you haven't finished the series. Obviously. Should be good though. Let me know what you think. Let me know if it's confusing and I can edit it. Thanks!

A/N 2: I'm doing a little bit of editing right now. Just taking out some typos and making it better. Just in case anyone was curious.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the other characters, settings, or spells in this story.

Ask Me Before Someone Else Does

Chapter 1

"Why would I care about you enjoying time without homework when house-elves are slaving away in the kitchens right now?" Hermione yelled at Seamus. After ten minutes of him avoiding the subject of house-elves and being an ungrateful, selfish jerk, Hermione was furious. This was getting to be incredibly frustrating. S.P.E.W had only four members at the moment, and nothing could be done for house-elf rights without more members.

Seamus, at her explosion, turned back to his game of exploding snap, seeming set on ignoring her until she went away.

"Fine," Hermione muttered, turning away from him. She decided to just ask him later. He'd understand eventually. She'd learn how to explain it to him just right. And then he'd understand.

Hermione scanned the room for more potential members. It was about eleven o'clock at night and the common room was full of people studying and talking. There had to be someone in here who would want to help the helpless. Someone had to care.

She suddenly realized she hadn't asked the Weasley twins yet. Even though Hermione knew they would be a long shot, she decided to try. Fred and George, shockingly, were not being the nosiest people in the room. They were sitting with each other, talking quietly to each other. She decided to take advantage of their solitude by approaching them about S.P.E.W.

"Did you know that your food is cooked by creatures that are unpaid for their labor?" Though, this was not her best line for attracting new members of S.P.E.W., Hermione thought starting simply with the twins would be the best way to spark their interest. They aren't known for their attention span, after all.

"Yes," Fred responded, with an air of finality.

"We heard you say that to Seamus about ten seconds ago," George added. "And Alicia before him. And then that first year over there before her."

"Well, it's time to put a stop to this horrible treatment of elves. It's slave labor and it's not fair to the house-elves," she argued. Hermione had suspected that these two would be particularly hard to attract to her cause, but she knew she had to try. Honestly, the conditions of the elves at Hogwarts were despicable. Something had to be done. Even though it seemed that she was the only person interested in the idea.

"Hermione," George started again, with a deep breath. "While you are a fascinating woman with a fascinating topic, I have to mail a letter. So, if you would excuse me, I would find it... fascinating." Practically nice for a Weasley twin.

"Weak finish," Fred commented, as George smirked and left the common room. There was no point in telling him that it was after hours. Weasley twins rarely cared about hours. They found it more enjoyable to stroll through the halls whenever they felt like it, as opposed to when it was allowed. Not that Hermione could talk, she supposed, with all the wandering she did with Ron and Harry after hours.

George seemed so disinterested. Hermione was not to give up hope, however. As much as they dispute the fact, the twins were not one person. She turned her attention to Fred, hoping that he may have a different opinion than his brother. "Isn't the well-being of an intelligent creature worth a sickle to you?" Hermione asked, putting her collections jar on top of the table.

"I don't have a sickle, Hermione," Fred signed, looking very tired. "The house-elves are as happy as students in Honeydukes. They like what they do."

"Just because they've been brainwashed doesn't mean we should take away their rights. Besides, you won all that money from Bagman at the World Cup. I'm sure you have a sickle."

He looked up surprised. And, Hermione was shocked to see, angry. "Well, we don't have a sickle to spare on this rubbish. Next you'll be campaigning for the cockroaches to eat in the Great Room with us. Merlin, Hermione, can't you just leave it alone?" He was nearly shouting.

"Well, you don't have to bite my head off," she replied, still surprised that he was so upset.

"Apparently, I do," he muttered, before getting up from his chair. "It's the only way you ever listen to anyone."

With that, Fred quickly turned and walked up the stairs to the dormitories. It took her a few moments to stop gaping up the stairs after him. Hermione had never seen either of the twins that angry before. He had been so rude. What did he mean "only way I listen to anyone?" She listened to people all the time who aren't rude. In fact, she decided she wouldn't listen to him from then on, precisely because he was rude. How inappropriate could you be?

Though they were different in personality, Hermione had always gotten along with the twins, for the most part. However, that was just an uncalled for attack on her cause. How dare he belittle what she was trying to do for these poor creatures?

A few deep breaths and Hermione decided that Weasley twins would definitely not be in S.P.E.W. She decided to work on her homework for a while. While house-elf rights needed immediate attention, but so did her Arithmancy homework.

......

Fred stormed up to his room, furiously. George was being an idiot. He didn't seem to realize that Ludo Bagman did not accidentally give them Leprechaun Gold. He did it on purpose. They had just gambled all their savings on a man who was a complete scum bag. A scum Bagman, in fact.

Fuming, he collapsed onto his bed. It was too early to go to sleep, but Fred couldn't be down in the common room anymore. After all, he had just seriously overreacted at Hermione Granger.

Granted, she was being pretty irritating. More irritating than usual, in fact. Why couldn't she just be quiet for one minute? Couldn't she see Fred was talking to his brother? And then asking for money. Didn't she know better than to do that? She's been to their house for Merlin's sake. She should know they don't have money to waste on nothing.

Fred took a deep breath. Hermione, after all, didn't know that Bagman was being a prick. She didn't know that they had gambled everything they had. She thought they had all their winnings from the Quidditch World Cup. It wasn't her fault she wasn't a mind reader.

So, why couldn't he calm down?

George came bursting through the door, looking at Fred curiously. "You're so mad at me that you felt the need to take a nap?" he asked, with an eyebrow raised.

"You are being pretty daft," he muttered. "Being unconscious may be the best way to deal with you."

"You could knock me unconscious," George suggested. "That might help too."

Fred sat up, feeling less upset than he had been a moment ago. It was hard to stay mad at George for too long. Something about sharing the same genes. "Well, it would be useless now. Letter's already been sent. We'll find out soon enough how much of an arse Bagman really is."

"Let's hope it was just an honest mistake, eh?" George suggested. "We'll get our money back on way or another. It's not the end of the world."

Fred snorted. "I know. I'm about to sound like Mum, but our futures rest on this."

George laughed. "You're right, you do sound like Mum." He took a seat at the foot of his bed, and opened his charms book. He scowled at t he text, rolling his eyes as he contemplated reading it.

Fred watched him for a moment, feeling his anger dissipate. Now, he just mostly felt guilty. "I just yelled at Hermione Granger," Fred confessed.

"D'you mean full on screaming, or just getting a little cross? Did you call her a bossy know-it-all? She is, but you know that our dearest little brother will have to defend his loved one if you hurt her feelings."

Smirking, Fred remembered how Ron had been so excited for Hermione to arrive this summer. It was almost cute. Everyone but him knew that he was desperately fancying Hermione. Well, Hermione didn't know yet either. But, she was a know it all. She'd figure it out. "It wasn't that bad," Fred replied. "Just harsher than I needed to be about this house-elf stuff. I mean honestly, who cares?"

"Well, I really wouldn't worry about it. If it's really bothering you, you could apologize. But how often do we do that, mate? You want to play exploding snap? I'd rather not work on my Charms right now."

.....

Two days later, Hermione and Ron were sitting in the common room, anxiously waiting for Harry to come back from talking with Dumbledore and the other Judges. His name had just been pulled out of the Goblet of Fire. Though everyone else in the common room seemed to think this was cause for celebration, Hermione was incredibly worried. After all, why would his name be in there? And how much trouble would he be in. Would he be expelled? Surely not. Ron looked just as upset. He was probably thinking the same things that she was.

While she was worrying about Harry's expulsion, Fred and George came over to them and collapsed into a nearby sofa. "Pretty exciting, isn't it?" Fred said. "Little Harry being the Hogwarts Champion."

"Well, they can't let him compete anyway," Ron grumbled.

Hermione felt bad for adding to his worry, but felt compelled to say anyway. "Actually, Ron, he'll have to. It's a legal contract. He has to compete. I'm worried about whether or not they'll let him stay in school after this. After all, they must think he put his own name in-"

"What do you mean, think?" Ron interrupted. "Of course he put his own name in there. How bloody else would he get chosen?" Ron was clearly not as astute as Hermione was, or else he would have noticed how shocked Harry looked when he was called. Or how even Harry was not that stupid.

She shook her head, incredulously. "Well, either way, this can't be good for Harry. The tournament is dangerous. Besides, it's not like Harry needs any more recognition."

Ron stood up, abruptly, and turned bright red. "I'm going to bed." He stormed upstairs.

Hermione was worried. It wasn't really like Ron to throw hissy fits like that. She couldn't imagine what was wrong.

"Could you have been any less tactful, Hermione?" Fred commented, sounding rather bitter.

"I don't know what you mean," Hermione sniffed. She had not forgotten about Fred's abrasive comments earlier that week and was not in the mood to forgive him, nor to forget about it. "I merely said a fact."

"But can't you tell that he's upset?" Fred shouted back. He paused for a moment, as if trying to control himself. "He's doesn't like being constantly shunted to the side whenever Harry is about," he continued, gritting his teeth. "Harry Potter is just so damn famous.

"Personally, I think we should turn him into a canary," George interrupted. "If Ron's a canary, he'd be the center of attention."

Hermione had no idea what George was talking about, but it seemed to be an ill-attempt to bring Fred back to Earth. However, she had had enough of it. "Well, since you know Ron so well-"

"If you weren't so bloody blind, you'd know all this. For such a know-it-all, you really are rather useless," Fred interrupted. There was a moment of awkward silence, where even George didn't know what to say.

"Fine," Hermione said after a minute. "Fine. If you really want to sit there and judge me on how useless I am, then fine. Like you too really help the situation. Why don't you make another toffee that will make my ears explode? Or make a stupid joke? Or, better yet, why don't you shut the hell up?" She angrily stormed out of the room, much in the same way that Ron had just done.

Just as she was reaching the stairs to the girl dormitories, she vaguely heard George's voice behind her say, "That is not what apologizing looks like."

...

Fred was wandering down the dark, deserted corridors of Hogwarts, waving his arms in front of him like an idiot. And it was all Hermione Granger's fault.

Fred was not used to feeling guilty. That was his only excuse. If he said something offensive one day, he'd forget about it and usually the other person would by the next day too. However, he felt, well, bad about what he had said to Hermione. So bad he hadn't found the nerve to apologize. He knew it wasn't like he called her a dirty slag or anything, but he knew he had insulted her.

When Hermione had asked about the kitchens at the party, Fred had answered without thinking why she was asking. Then he realized she was planning on visiting the house-elves, he hatched a plan. Tonight he was actually going to make it up to her. Since Fred figured that Hermione was going to sneak into the kitchens, Fred decided to try to get her to not be caught by Filch in the process. He saw her leaving the common room with the silvery thing that he could only guess was the Invisibility Cloak that Ron and Harry talked about sometimes. And he decided to follow her.

However, if he had been thinking more clearly, he would have realized that this would be difficult because she was invisible.

Fred was sneaking down the corridor to the kitchen, trying hard to listen for Filch and for Hermione, but feeling the air in front of him, in case Hermione was right there. So far, no luck with that.

Just then, he heard a soft gasp from around the corner. He slowly peeked around the corner to see Mrs. Norris staring intently at a spot on the wall. Luckily, the cat did not see him. Quick as a flash, she turned around, presumably to report back to Filch.

Fred had to act quickly. He did not have an invisibility cloak, and it seemed that Hermione may not be too safe even with it. After all, that cat had been staring at something. He spotted a closet in the same hallway, and wondered if Hermione would figure out to hide in it. But he didn't have time to see if she would.

He reached out to where the cat had been staring. Unsurprisingly, he touched something warm and soft. Grabbing the material of the cloak, he pulled Hermione into a broom closet.

"Oh!" he heard her gasp in surprise.

He put his hand over her mouth, but it probably didn't do much good, seeing as she was still wearing the cloak. "Shh..." he whispered. "It's me, Hermione." He removed the hand after he put an imperturbable charm on the door.

"George? Fred?" she asked, clearly not sure which twin had pulled her into a closet.

"It's Fred," he replied. "Sorry about that. Filch was coming."

"I'm invisible. I don't think he would have been able to find me," she sniffed. "This is probably just you planning on screaming at me for no reason again."

"Yeah, I really sit around and plot reasons to scream at you. Like I have nothing better to do." He was starting to lose his temper again. This was getting ridiculous.

"Right. Why would you waste your time with someone so useless?" she replied, hissing the last word.

Deep breath, Fred, he told himself. Changing the subject. "Even if Filch didn't see you coming in, he could probably hear you once you were in the kitchen starting a house-elf revolution. Those aren't exactly quiet."

"I wasn't going to start a revolution. I was just going to explain to them-"

"They don't want to be explained to, Hermione. They just want to do their jobs."

"They don't have jobs! They're slaves!"

Fred was very glad he put an imperturbable charm on the door, because Hermione was definitely shouting at him now. This was not going according to his plan. Fred shook his head. "I really didn't come in here for this. I just wanted to – OW!" Fred screamed. A loud clatter followed. "Something just fell on my head."

"Are you hurt?" Hermione asked, sounding genuinely worried.

"_Lumos_," Fred murmured, lighting his wand. At the same moment, Hermione pulled off the invisibility cloak. With the light from his wand, Fred could clearly see her in the small closet. The static from the cloak made her already bushy hair stand on end and fluff out around her face. He caught a glimpse of an inch of creamy white skin between her pants and her shirt when she lifted her arms to remove the cloak. Her eyes glimmered with slight worry, but mostly agitation as she looked to see if he was bleeding from his head.

And then Fred realized why he had been acting so funny in front of Hermione. She was beautiful. Her eyes made Fred wonder how anyone can be so irritated, but still worry about him at the same time. One strand of hair fell across her cheek. She was, in fact, nothing short of drop-dead gorgeous. How had he never noticed before?

Without thinking, he slowly reached out to brush the hair away. When he touched her, he felt a spark between them.

"Ow," Hermione murmured. "Watch out for the static in here."

Fred, stunned for a moment, finally recovered enough to mumble, "Sorry. I just wanted to say I was sorry."

Hermione seemed a little taken aback. "Oh. Well, okay."

"And that Filch is never anywhere near here during the day if you really want to see the house-elves. I'd come back tomorrow afternoon or something," he muttered.

Hermione furrowed her brow. "Are you alright, Fred? You sure you don't have a concussion or something?"

"Why, because I'm not acting like a lunatic," Fred said quickly, grinning to break the tension. "No, I'm fine. Why don't you get out of here? Try to be quiet though. And I'd avoid the cat, if I were you."

"Alright," she said, pulling the cloak back on. Fred got another quick glance of the skin of her midsection and felt a funny feeling come over him. "You'll be alright though?" she asked once properly invisible again.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I sneak around all the time."

"Goodnight then," Hermione said, and left the broom closet.

Fred slammed the back of his head against the wall. What was he thinking? He couldn't fancy Hermione? She was young, and bossy, and motherly! How could he fancy someone who held so many of the same opinions as his mother?

He tried comparing Hermione to his mum for a bit, but to no avail. He couldn't help but imagine how her skin and felt under his hand for that split second. He thought of her lips for a moment, and then about kissing her, before he slammed his head against the wall again.

She was, perhaps the worst girl in Hogwarts to fancy. Sensible Hermione Granger and Fred Weasley? Ridiculous. And the worst part was that Ron would most definitely kill him.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Whoo! Second chapter! How excited are you five readers? I like it, but we'll see how you do.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hermione, Fred, Ron, Harry, or anything else that happens in Harry Potter. Wish I did, but I don't and I'm not expecting to make any money on this.

Chapter 2

"Ask me before someone else does next time, and not as a last resort!" The words came out of her like vomit. She had been holding them in for so long and now there they were. Embarrassing, disgusting, and out where everyone could see them.

Ron looked completely flabbergasted, stuttering for a few minutes. She couldn't take it. Hermione spun on her heel and headed for the portrait hole, almost running over Harry on the way. She hardly cared.

Hermione didn't know what she had expected to happen. When the Yule Ball had been announced, she had had an unexpected desire to go with Ron. She waited, praying to herself that he would notice her, instead of falling all over Fleur Delacour. But it was all for nothing. He didn't ask. Well, she supposed he did, but too late and not at all in a adequate way.

Then Viktor asked her. And he had certainly been nice enough. Hermione had had a wonderful time with him, even if she had to teach him how to pronounce her name. He was fascinating to talk to, and an incredibly good dancer. But, at the back of her mind, she knew she would have had a better time with Ron.

Sighing, she wondered the halls aimlessly. She knew she should head back, but she wanted to make sure that both Ron and Harry would be upstairs by the time she got there. She could not take seeing them right now. Ron's reaction showed that he really had no intention of really wanting to take her to the dance. And Harry would just be awkward.

Hermione slowly started back to the common room. The Fat Lady gave her a disdainful look as she climbed through the portrait hole. Still thinking about how she would face Ron tomorrow, she came to a dead halt as soon as the portrait closed.

There was someone sitting with their back to her on the sofa. And that person had very familiar red hair.

Holding her breath, Hermione hoped he hadn't heard her. But he had. His head turned around to look at her. For a fleeting moment, she thought maybe Ron was waiting for her; ready to apologize. She saw his face. Hermione let her breath go. "I thought you were Ron," she said, explaining why she was looking incredibly nervous and about to tip-toe past him.

"He went up a bit ago," Fred replied. "Most everyone did." He patted the sofa next to him, offering her a seat.

Hermione thought about it for a moment, realized she wouldn't be able to sleep at all, and had a seat next to Fred. It was a little awkward for a moment. She hadn't spoken to him since their encounter in the broom closet a few months ago.

"How was your evening?" Fred asked, looking into the fire. He was being strange. Not joking at all. It was just weird.

Hermione wondered if maybe he had witnessed her explosion earlier. Maybe this was just his way of making fun of her. "Wonderful," Hermione said, defiantly trying to stay poised. "How was yours?"

Fred gave a short, sarcastic laugh, "Pretty awful. Angelina left me for George in the middle of it all."

"She did?" Hermione said, shocked.

"Yeah. I reckon she thought he was more handsome. He was always the pretty one."

Hermione let out a short laugh, feeling the tension and awkwardness leave. Then she stopped, and looked at Fred to make sure that he wasn't really too upset. She was relieved to see that he was smiling as well. "I'm sure she'll change her mind once she realizes that you're the smart one," Hermione said, smirking.

"I'll keep my fingers crossed," Fred responded, still smiling. "So, was your evening really wonderful? Krum show his Herm-oh-ninny a good time and all that?"

Hermione sighed. "No," she admitted. "Well, yes. He was very nice. But I think he likes me a little more than I like him."

"I know the feeling," Fred smirked. "Well, I know how it feels to like someone more than they like you. I understand how awkward it must be."

"Angelina?"

Fred paused for a moment. "That would be the obvious answer," he replied. "But I actually didn't really want to pursue anything with her anyway. It just kind of sucked to be completely abandoned at such a couple-y event."

"Yeah," Hermione sighed. "It was very couples oriented. Maybe that's why Ron threw such a fit tonight."

"Ron threw a fit? After you went to the dance with another guy? A guy that he is incredibly jealous of, mind you, and you wonder why?" Fred was no longer smiling. He looked a little confused.

Hermione knew what she hoped Fred was getting at. But she also knew he couldn't seriously mean that Ron liked her. That would be ridiculous. "Is this another one of those 'Ron's been living in someone's shadow' moments? Because Ron may need to start getting over it, if he keeps taking it out on me for no reason."

"Oh, Hermione," Fred said, shaking his head. "You are so smart, yet so clueless all at the same time. Ron's a baby right now. He'll grow up eventually."

Hermione didn't like that answer. But, from the look on Fred's face, she thought that maybe she shouldn't push it. He looked like he really did not want to talk about it. So, she changed the subject. "Well, at least it was an interesting Christmas."

"Speak for yourself. It probably was way more interesting to go to the ball with a guy who talks like Dracula than with a boring old Hogwarts girl." Fred leaned back onto the couch, relaxing, and a causal grin on his face.

"He was very interesting. He talked a lot about Durmstrang, and how different it was there. And about being an international Quidditch star," Hermione explained.

Fred looked surprised. "You guys didn't talk about the Tournament at all?"

"No," Hermione said crossly. "We don't talk about that and I'm not going to help him with the Second Task. Honestly-"

"Sorry, sorry!" Fred interjected. "I didn't mean that, it's just that it's a big part of why he's here."

Hermione made a noncommittal noise. She was still upset about Ron accusing her of helping Viktor with the Second Task. As if she would ever want anyone else to win besides Harry.

"So, let's think of something else Krum and you didn't talk about." Fred scratched his chin in a way that suggested he was thinking very hard. "Let's see. Err… what about the fact that you look so damn pretty tonight."

Hermione blushed. "Well… no," she said, completely mortified that she was discussing her looks with Fred Weasley. It was beyond weird. "This actually took hours to do. I wasn't about to bring that up with _him,_" Hermione explained.

"Hours? It takes girls hours to get ready? That wasn't a joke when you left the snowball fight so early?"

"Well, it took me hours, anyway," Hermione said, blushing even harder. Maybe it was easier for other girls to get pretty, but not for her. "It was kind of disappointing, actually. You spend this long getting ready for one evening and then it just kind of ends. You expect things to be more climactic."

"Climactic," Fred asked, with his eyebrow arched.

"Climactic…" Hermione paused; she wasn't sure how to say this without offending him. "You do know what it means, right?"

"Ha!" Fred laughed. "Yes, I know what climatic means. You make the best faces when you're trying not to insult me."

Hermione blushed, yet again. She was sure she had to be bright red now. She had never had this personal a conversation with Fred before. In fact, she didn't have this not with any of the Weasleys, including Ron. Well, she had talked very personally to Ron, but never about boys. That might be because Ron currently was the boy. Or maybe she should get rid of the "currently" in that statement. Viktor could be the new boy, and she certainly wouldn't discuss that with Ron either. But then we'll see about that too.

He hadn't even kissed her tonight. She had been expecting it for some reason. "I had been hoping for more out of this evening, I guess," she explained to Fred, trying not to bring up the subject of her first kiss. She was sure she couldn't handle discussing that with him.

"No fairy tale ending?" Fred asked.

Hermione smiled softly. "Something like that."

And that's when Fred kissed her.

A/N: Alright! That's another chapter with a little cliff hanger for you. Enjoy that and I'll get another chapter out for you soon. And, just so you know, I'm thinking about changing the title to "Ask Me Before Someone Else Does," because I came up with "Secrets" in a second, and I don't even like it. So, if you can't find that story, look for it under the new title. Or, of course, you can always search by author name. Anyway, please review!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Now, don't get used to this. I just had classes canceled today, so I felt like writing another chapter. You won't always get one two days in a row, as much as I would like to try. Hope you enjoy this one too!

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Fred had no idea why he had decided to do it. It might have been how beautiful she looked in the firelight. Or it might have been that he just wanted to make her happier. Or it might just have been that he had been wondering what kissing Hermione would feel like for the last two months. All he knew was that he had reached across the space between them so easily, slid his fingers into her hair, and pulled her face to his.

Her lips were just as soft as Fred had imagined. Her hair also felt thick and wonderful and soft beneath his hands. Though he thought he might regret this decision, Fred realized now that whatever was about to happen was worth it.

He pulled back after only a few short seconds, but he knew that any amount of time would be too short. Especially because he knew what he was facing. Hermione looked livid. She also looked confused and stunned. In any other situation, her expression would have made him laugh.

Actually, her expression did make him laugh, even in this situation.

If anything, this made her switch over to just plain livid. "Why are you laughing?" she demanded, standing up abruptly. There was just pure fury on her face now.

Fred regretted laughing, but was still happy with his decision to kiss her. "Hermione," he said, standing up as well, just so he could be closer to her. "You should know by know that I laugh at inappropriate times. You said you wanted fairy tale endings. That's what happens at the end of fairy tales," he explained, shrugging. He knew he had to be careful about what he said right now. He didn't want to hurt her, or make her think that he didn't really want her.

"Not with you!" she replied. "You're Fred. You're not even involved, not even a choice." She was babbling now. It still hurt him. She apparently had not even entertained the idea of being with him. He supposed that shouldn't be such a surprise. But he knew he had to change her mind right then.

"Look, I'm sorry. I got carried away with myself. It's just that you look so beautiful tonight, and we were talking," Fred tried to explain.

"Beautiful tonight? Is it just these spells that made you attracted to me?" she shot back. This was definitely getting worse.

"You look beautiful every night," Fred admitted. "And in the day too, in case you were going to interrogate me about that too," he added, smiling, trying with all his heart to lighten the mood.

"So, you're just after me because I'm pretty," she accused, backing up towards the stairs to the dormitories.

"No," Fred replied, defensively. "I like you because you're beautiful, smart –" Fred started, but luckily he didn't have to think up any more adjectives because she interrupted him again.

"Smart! You just want me to help you study, that's it. You knew that if I helped you, you could get more NEWTs."

Fred had enough. She was getting silly. He walked over to where she was, now only a few feet from the stairs. "Honestly, Hermione," he said in a soft voice. "When have you ever known me to care about grades?"

Hermione's angry look slowly melted off her face, replaced with pure confusion. "Then, why-"

"I already told you why, Hermione," Fred said, and went in for another kiss.

This one was even better than the first. Hermione had been too shocked to respond to the first one, but now she was actually kissing him back. Her arms were wrapped around him, which Fred found to be quite enjoyable. This was, in fact, probably the most amazing kiss he had ever had in his life.

But like the first one it was over way to quickly. Hermione pulled back, first, looking into his eyes. "I have to go," she whispered, and was up the stairs in a few seconds.

Fred was ecstatic. He felt like jumping around and shouting, but knew that that would look pretty silly. He settled back down onto the sofa where he had been sitting before, his hands behind his head, a contented smile on his face.

And that's when someone made a whole lot of noise coming down the stairs. Fred sat up quickly, hoping no one had over heard their loud fight. To his relief, it was just George.

However, George was looking rather like he was being quizzed in History of Magic. "Did you just kiss Hermione Granger?"

Fred's jaw dropped. "What? How did-"

"You know that long hearing thing we made to hear into different rooms? Well, it works."

"We need to come up with a better name for it though," Fred responded, absent-mindedly. "Long hearing thing?"

"Not the point," George said, clearly out of breath. "What were you doing?"

"I thought we already established that I was kissing Hermione Granger," Fred said, knowing that George was the one person he would tell about this happening, and glad he didn't really have to break the news himself. But Fred thought it was creepy that his brother had been listening to his conversation.

"But, why?" George asked.

"Well because she's pretty, and smart, and the most amazing person to talk to, and she cares about stupid house-elves. Didn't you hear me explain that to her?"

"Not really. You didn't actually say some of those things," George said. "You got stopped at smart."

"Well, I'll have to tell her tomorrow then," Fred replied, smiling at the thought of getting to talk to her tomorrow.

"I can't believe you kissed Hermione," George muttered.

"Twice," Fred pointed out, grinning even wider.

George looked at Fred with curiosity, as if he was being studied. "You really like her, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do."

"So, you're not upset about that whole Angelina thing?" George asked, looking hopeful.

"Not even a little bit," Fred said, walking over to his brother.

"Good. Even though when we left and there was better light she realized that I was George. She apparently thought she was still with you during the dance."

Fred laughed. "Poor girl. I hope she wasn't too embarrassed by that one."

"She looked pretty distraught, but she'll get over it. She liked me better anyway," George said with a smile. "Hey, did you know that Ron is going to kill you when he finds out about you and Hermione?"

"Yeah," Fred responded, coming back to earth with that thought. "I know."

……

Hermione woke up the next morning, incredibly nervous. Fred had kissed her. Twice. And she liked it. She even kissed him back. What was she going to do?

She was practically dating Viktor right now. Was this cheating? Did that make her a terrible person? She had spent most of last night lying awake, thinking of Fred. Did that make her a more terrible person?

This is one of those times when she wished she had a close girl friend to talk to. Talking about dating with Ron and Harry was laughable, especially the way that they reacted to Viktor. She could always tell her roommates, Parvati and Lavender, but then the entire school would know in about two hours. Ginny was always an option, but since this was her brother that Hermione was kissing, she wasn't sure how helpful Ginny would be.

Hermione sighed, and got out of bed. The floor was cold under her feet, as it usually is during the winter. She put on her robes, brushed out her hair, which was now back to its normal bushy self. She headed down stairs and was surprised to see Fred sitting in the common room, at a table with Lee and George.

She couldn't talk to him now. Not when there were so many people around. The common room had at least ten people in it. She couldn't do this. Hermione started towards the portrait hole, deciding that she would talk to him later.

"Hang on, a second." Hermione heard the familiar voice behind her and hurried towards the exit. She was through, and picked a direction and started hurrying away. She didn't want to do this. She wanted to just avoid him, and things would go back to normal eventually.

"You really just going to go to breakfast by yourself?" she heard from behind her. She couldn't help herself. Hermione turned around, to see Fred standing by the Fat Lady. "Not going to wait for Ron and Harry?"

"What is it, Fred?" Hermione asked, walking over to him. She decided that now that they were away from everyone, it wouldn't do any harm to talk to him.

He smiled a sheepish grin. Hermione, as much as it pained her to admit it to herself, felt her knees go a little weak. "I just wanted to talk about last night, for a minute. No pressure," Fred said.

Hermione sighed. "Ok."

"Alright," Fred continued. "So, are you thinking about hiding from me for the rest of your life?"

Hermione smiled a little. "I was."

"I thought so. Look, Hermione, I didn't mean to scare you last night-"

"I'm not scared of you," she interjected, though she honestly wasn't really sure of that was the truth.

"Maybe so. But I obviously have made you uncomfortable." Even as he said this, Hermione noticed that he did not look remotely sorry. "I just wanted to tell you that I think that you are an amazing person. And I would love to, at the very least, be your friend. If you want more, you just have to let me know, and I'll be there."

Hermione was flabbergasted. "But… Well… There's Viktor."

Fred rolled his eyes. "Yeah, Viktor. You sounded so in love with him last night."

Hermione blushed. "Well, I… Just don't…"

"I told you to take your time. Don't worry about me now. I've got plenty of time." Fred looked around the corridor and, before Hermione could prepare for it, bent down and gave her a quick peck on the lips. Then he smiled. "I just wanted one more." He turned around and started to leave.

"Wait," Hermione called. "Did you tell George and Lee?" The question had been nagging her since she saw them sitting at the table.

Fred had the decency to look embarrassed. "I didn't tell either of them, but George figured it out." He seemed like he wasn't really sure why he was telling her that. "Lee doesn't know anything though," he added quickly.

Hermione wasn't really sure what to do with that information. She didn't really want to know. She was sure she was blushing again. "Oh."

"He won't say anything to anyone," Fred explained. "He's George; we're good at secrets." He gave a small half smile, and Hermione wondered why he was always smiling at her.

"Alright, Fred," she said quietly. "I'll think about it."

"That's all I'm asking for," he responded, and walked back through the portrait hole.

Hermione stared after him for a minute. She was glad that he had taken some of the pressure off. She could deal with Viktor, see what happens with him, and decide if she liked Fred more. She couldn't imagine dating him. Fred was just so different from her.

"You are crazy if you are thinking about dating that boy," The Fat Lady said from her portrait, shocking Hermione out of her thoughts.

She was even more shocked when portrait swinging open then and Harry and Ron came crawling out of it.

"Hermione," Harry said, sounding a little surprised. "Did you wan to get breakfast?"

Ron wasn't looking her in the eye. He seemed very nervous. That's when Hermione remembered that huge fight they had had last night. She hadn't even thought about it since the kissing happened. "Sure," Hermione said, likewise looking only at Harry.

As the three of them walked to the Great Room, Hermione knew that she was most definitely not going to tell them what had happened last night.

A/N: See? Less of a cliff hanger. I hope you guys liked it. If you did, you should review. If you didn't like, you should still review. Reviews make me happy and inspire me to write faster. Not that I'm blackmailing you guys, or anything. Because, you know, I would never do that.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Now you're all definitely going to be spoiled. I'm really not going to update every day, as much as I would like to. You're just getting lucky. No, really. Not every day. I have a life. And I'm going to convince myself of that as much as possible.

Disclaimer: Not my characters, not my plot, not my rights. J.K owns everything!

Fred checked his watch. It had been an hour since Hermione had gone into the Hospital Wing, and he was starting to get worried. He saw her get some mail at breakfast today, and it looked like it made her hands swell up. He didn't know what went wrong, but he had been outside the door, hiding in a closet, for the whole hour now.

His eyes were on the door, hoping it would open. He couldn't believe how nervous he was getting. Especially for a girl who had pretty much dumped him. He hadn't heard anything from her since they had had that conversation the day after the Yule Ball.

When he said he would wait for her to decide who to be with, he had expected to wait. But he had not expected to wait this long. It's been two months! Two months, and he hadn't heard a word from her. Well, a few words, but no words that happened without Ron and Harry and George and a million other people around.

He also hadn't expected to be so sad about it. He missed her. He missed those two conversations they had had. And he felt pretty damn pathetic about it. Just how pathetic it was to be standing in a closet, waiting for someone to come out of the Hospital Wing.

The door opened. Fred felt his stomach flip. It was Hermione. Though he knew that this was about to be very creepy, he grabbed her arm as she passed him and pulled her into the closet with him.

Unsurprisingly, Hermione screamed. Fred supposed that anyone would do that in this situation.

"Shh," he whispered. "It's just me."

"Fred?" Hermione said, sounding very angry. "What are you doing? I have to go to class."

He was a little taken aback by her angry tone. "I was just checking to see if you were alright," he said, rather defensively. "I saw you're hands go all puffy at breakfast, and I was, well, worried." It was tough to say these things. Fred never really was the sensitive type. But he knew that with Hermione, he didn't want her to think he was full of crap.

"Well, I'm fine," she said huffily. "Someone just thought I deserved to have bubotuber pus on my hands, and that's perfectly alright with me, I'll be fine, and my God do you smell good." She paused. "Did I really just say that?"

Admittedly, Fred was a little taken aback as well. "Really? I haven't showered since Monday," he said, shrugging, although Hermione couldn't see the shrugging. They were standing in complete darkness.

Hermione was silent for a few moments. "That's revolting. You realize that it's Thursday?"

"Yes, I know," Fred responded. "But I honestly didn't bring you in here to discuss my personal hygiene. Besides, you apparently like the smell anyway. You must be attracted to my pheromones," Fred added, hoping she might be a little impressed he knew that Muggle explanation for love. The things that were covered in Muggle Studies were awesome.

"Hmm," she said, sounding like she sort of thought I was an idiot. "I'm fine. My hands will heal. I really need to get out of this closet right now, though, before someone sees us."

"What's the big deal? I'll tell them it was a joke; it's not like people are going to assume that we're shagging in closets or anything, Hermione." Fred instantly regretted using the word shagging. After all, they were in a very small closet with absolutely no light. They were literally inches from each other. Though shagging was not even a possibility in his mind, he really wanted to kiss her again once he realized how close they were to each other.

"You don't read Witch Weekly, do you?"

Fred was caught off guard, because he had been thinking about how close her hand must be from his hand. If he had been more prepared, he probably could have picked a hilarious answer to give. But there where were just too many options.

"Stupid question. Well, you'll be hearing about it later anyways, but that terrible reporter wrote an article about how I am being a "Scarlet Woman." Those are your brother's words anyway. According to her, I am stringing Harry and Viktor along, and if she sees me coming out of a closet with another boy, it will be too much to handle," she said, all very quickly.

"Well, it's not like she's going to be standing in the hallway, is it?" Fred asked, as he had heard a rumor that she was banned from Hogwarts.

"She's spying on me, somehow," Hermione muttered.

"Wow. I didn't realize you were crazy," Fred said, smiling. Then he realized that it was dark, so she couldn't see the smile. "That was a joke," he added, for her benefit.

"She heard about Viktor asking me to visit him over the summer, and she obviously wasn't just standing around during the Second Task, so-"

"Wait. What?" Fred interjected, finding himself to be getting angry. Yes, ha ha, Hermione had been chosen as Krum's favorite thing in the whole world. He was fine with that. Though if he had an excuse, he would punch Krum in the face. However, her going to another freaking country to see him, that was not something that he wanted to happen.

"I haven't answered him yet," she said, as though she suddenly realized who she was talking to. "I have reached my limit with him. He's way more trouble than he's worth."

"Oh, really?" Fred momentarily felt himself grow lighter. Then he realized that that was a pretty girly thought. "So, does that mean…"

"No," Hermione said firmly. She paused for a moment, as though reconsidering. "I mean, it did. Maybe. But this article changes everything. I'm sorry, Fred."

Fred no longer felt light. Now he felt angry. "It's fine. No worries. I'll just wait until the world is absolutely perfect for you, and then you can come find me." Then he cursed at himself, realizing that he was not being the understanding guy he had promised her he would be.

"Well, there's no need to take it out on me," she said, rather indignantly. "I just don't want this to bother Harry. He's going to be so embarrassed by this one, if there's another article out about me and you and Viktor _and _him? I can't even imagine."

"So, now this is about Harry?" he shot, vaguely wondering how everything he said made him sound like he was a whinny little kid.

"Honestly?" Hermione asked, sounding just as pissed off as he was. "Grow up, Fred. I'm not ready yet. I don't know if there will be a good time. You are just going to have to be a big boy and wait, or you can get over me and move about your business. It's up to you."

Wow, Fred thought. She had really just put him in his place. And he honestly thought it was the sexiest thing he had ever heard in his life. He thought again about how close she was to him. He thought he could almost smell her hair. Fred wished he could turn on a light to see her face. "Sorry," he muttered. "I just…" he paused while he tried to think of a way to explain himself. "This is harder than I expected. Seeing you with that guy makes me literally want to kill him. I'm not sure-"

He was caught off guard again by Hermione. This time, however, she had somehow found his face in the pitch black and pressed her lips against his.

Fred had not seen this coming. One second she was yelling, and now the next, she was kissing him. He hadn't even leaned down or anything. He quickly realized he was just standing there, not responding at all to her kiss.

Quickly, he bent down to accommodate her small stature. He wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her to him, something he had been longing to do. The feeling of her warm, soft body against his was something that he quickly realized he should not think about or else certain… _things_… would be noticeable. After all, she was still way too young for that nonsense. Fred felt her hands push gently on his chest, and quickly pulled back.

"Ouch," she muttered. Obviously her hands were wrapped in bandages, so probably tender.

"Sorry," Fred said quickly.

"What do you have to be sorry for," Hermione said, sounding cross. "Oh, I should not be doing this."

"I'm sure Rita Skeeter isn't in here with us," Fred murmured, very confused by the whole situation.

"I hope not," Hermione said. "But I'm missing class."

Fred smiled. He wrapped his arm around her waist again. "You must have forgotten that you were Hermione Granger." He started kissing her neck gently. "You can miss a class and still be smarter than anyone else in the school."

That, apparently, was all the convincing Hermione needed. She found his mouth again with no trouble, kissing him as passionately as before.

Fred was practically soaring as he walked back to Transfiguration nearly half-an-hour later. Once in class, all he could think about was what had happened in that closet. He had traced her back with his hand, being sure not to let his hands get to low, because he didn't want her to stop kissing him. He had memorized how it felt to have her leaning against him. And, for those few minutes when her tongue had slowly slid into his mouth…

"Fred." A whispered voice pulled him out of his thoughts. He couldn't help being a little angry with that voice.

"What?" he whispered back.

"You're drooling," George said with a smile.

Wiping his mouth, Fred tried in vain to pay attention to rest of class, but it was impossible. Though he was still definitely not dating her, he knew he had fallen for Hermione Granger.

A/N: Now, not to nag or anything, but I noticed that there are 26 people who have this story on alerts. 26. That's fantastic! It makes me want to dance around my room. But how come I only have 16 reviews? 26-16 is ten (I'm a math minor, I know this). So, assuming that everyone who reviewed has me on alert, and that they each only reviewed once (which are pretty big assumptions), that's at least ten people who want to read my story but don't want to review. It makes me sad.

Now, this has been a long author's note and if you've actually read it, I hope you get the point. I love all my readers, but my favorites are the ones who review.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: You guys are going to like me a lot less after this chapter. That's a warning. But you guys are still my favorites.

Disclaimer: Not mine!

Fred came down to the common room. The day after the Third Task had a significantly different feel than the day before, to say the least. The common room was almost dead quiet. No one was laughing, which was the real change. He spotted his only younger brother sitting alone by the fire, playing himself in chess.

Fred wanted to talk to him anyway, so he had a seat. "Hey, Ronnikins." That was never the best way to start a conversation, but Fred couldn't help himself.

"Hmm," Ron grunted, staring at his chess board.

"Can I interrupt your game with your invisible friend?"

Ron looked up at Fred, slightly annoyed. "Yeah?"

"How are you?" Fred asked. He was honestly concerned, but he knew it sounded like a joke.

"Fantastic," Ron responded. "My best friend just saw You-Know-Who return and now he's sleeping in the Hospital Wing. It's the best time ever." And after this sarcastic tirade, he looked back at his game.

"Well, I was just worried about my littler brother, don't blame me for asking," Fred responded. "Where's Hermione?" He knew it sounded out of place, but that's what came out anyway. He hoped Ron didn't think that was weird at all.

"She's visiting Harry."

Fred noticed the bitterness in his voice, and he knew this conversation would not go well. "You don't sound very happy with that."

"I'm…" Ron looked up, looking shocked that Fred had noticed. "It's just that, they spend a lot of time together," he finished lamely.

Fred took a deep breath. He was about to say something that would probably make Ron blow up at him and ruin everything between him and Hermione. But he had to do it. "You like her, don't you?"

"'Course I do," Ron muttered, not looking at Fred.

Here goes, Fred thought. "I mean, as more than a friend."

"Well… err… that's really none of your business." Now it wasn't a disinterested "I'm not looking at Fred" routine, it was purposeful and embarrassed. "She's a good friend, but that's it."

"But," Fred started again. "It would kill you if she started dating Harry, wouldn't it?"

"She's already dating Krum," Ron muttered bitterly. "That doesn't kill me."

Fred knew he was lying. It was obviously killing him, and this was Krum. Someone he didn't even care about. How would he react if he found out his own brother was dating her? "You should take the queen with your knight," Fred found himself comment, absent mindedly.

Ron looked surprised by Fred's suggestion. "Then I'll lose my knight to his pawn."

"Isn't it worth it to have the queen?" Chess was not Fred's forte, but he had played enough before to know that the queen was the most powerful piece.

"I'd rather take the queen when I won't lose my knight," Ron decided, and moved his bishop instead.

"That's right," commented Ron's knight. "You don't listen to a word he says."

"So, why exactly did you come over here?" Ron asked. "Was it really just to talk to me about girls?"

"Well, you are becoming a man now," Fred said. "It's time we discussed the bird and the bees."

Ron gagged. "Tell me you're joking."

"I'm Fred," he said simply. "Of course I'm joking. Now, really. What would happen if Hermione and Harry started dating?" This time Fred asked him completely out of the blue, hoping to catch him off guard.

"I don't know," Ron said. "Do you know something? Why do you keep asking me?"

"Well…" Fred struggled to come up with a good reason. "I can just, see how you look at her. And I imagine that life would be tough for you if you lost someone, especially a girl you care about, to your best friend. Or anyone close to you," he added. Fred really hoped that Ron was not thinking to hard about what he was saying, and that Ron would actually take him seriously. In fact, Fred had been trying very hard lately to make sure a lot of people took him seriously. Perhaps he should have thought of that when he decided to be so damn funny.

Ron sighed. "It would devastate me. Is that what you want to hear?" Although Ron was trying to look irritated, like was just trying to get Fred to stop talking to him, Fred knew he was telling the truth. Fred could tell because Ron turned bright red.

"There isn't any shame in liking Hermione," Fred said softly. "She's smart, caring, not bad looking at all." And she's prettier than a Veela, and can kiss better than anyone, Fred added in his head.

Ron went all misty-eyed for a second. "You should see her when we're in danger. She gets this look on her face. It's pure determination. There's nothing in this world…" he trailed off. After a few seconds, he looked back up at Fred. "Tell anyone, and I'll kill you."

"Yes, sir," Fred said, giving a fake salute and walking away from his younger brother. He headed out of the common room and down to breakfast.

Fred now had a lot of things to think about. After what had transpired in February, Fred figured it would only be a matter of time before Hermione knew that she wanted him. Not that he was being arrogant, of course. They had had some meaningful looks at meals and when they were hanging around the common room. Fred knew what was coming.

He also knew that he had to deal with Ron. Fred had taken a lot of things away from Ron: his teddy bear, his toy broomstick, one of his real broomsticks, any appreciation anyone would have for his sense of humor. That was nothing compared to what they all had taken from him. He would never be the first Head Boy, or first Quidditch Captain. He would never be the first in his family to get twelve OWLs, or the first to get three. Ron had very little options when it came to standing out.

And then to be friends with someone like Harry Potter? Fred had seen how mad Ron had gotten when Harry got picked for the Tournament. That was one more thing that Ron was overshadowed by. Almost every day, Ron was shunted aside while people fawned over Harry.

Fred had no idea how Ron put up with all this. As much as he teased and joked, he did care for his brother. Fred didn't want to see what would happen if he announced that Hermione and him were dating.

He no longer suspected that Ron would kill him. But he did know that it would probably kill Ron.

……

Viktor and Hermione walked away from Ron and Harry right before she was about to get on the train. They didn't go to far from everyone, for which Hermione was grateful. Though she knew he had been under the Imperious Curse at the time, Hermione did not feel comfortable with him ever since she heard that he had put the Crucitais Curse on Cedric.

"Herm-oh-ninny," Viktor started, once they had stopped. "I vas vondering if you had decided if you vould accompany me to Bulgaria this summer." He was so formal, it always took Hermione by surprise.

She took a deep breath. This was pretty nerve wracking, but it couldn't be that bad. "I don't think so," she said softly. "Viktor, I've been thinking."

"Are you breaking up vith me?" He didn't sound surprised; it was though he had expected it.

"Yes. I'm sorry," Hermione said quickly. "It's just that, what with what happened the other day, I don't know if I want to have a long distance relationship." She was going to say that she didn't know if she wanted a relationship in general, but she knew that wasn't true.

"Alright, Herm-oh-ninny," Viktor said, looking a little sad. "I'll miss you, but if that is vhat you vant." He bent down and kissed my cheek gently. Hermione accepted it, but wished it was Fred kissing her. When Fred did, she felt fireworks. When it was Viktor, it was just lips. They walked back over to Harry and Ron, where Ron finally caved and asked for Viktor's autograph. It was about time. And then Viktor left, and Hermione did not watch him go.

She was relieved to be rid of Viktor. For one thing, with You-Know-Who being back, it would be way to stressful to be dating someone who had been trained personally by a Death Eater. Even if Viktor wasn't evil, it was still not a good idea.

But the main reason, obviously, was that Hermione wanted to be with Fred. Now that she had Rita Skeeter in a jar in her bag, she didn't have to worry about how the media would respond, because now the media wouldn't care.

Now she just had to get his attention.

After they had boarded the train, Malfoy and his cronies started talking about Cedric Diggory. Hermione had pulled out her wand and cast the enlargement spell, hoping to hit Malfoy in the mouth, as he had hit her with that same spell earlier this year. However, so many things happened at once that Hermione had no idea whether or not she had aimed right. Fred and George had showed up.

Hermione grinned at Fred, trying to catch his eye. He was, however, looking in the other direction. Hermione moved her trunk to the nearest empty compartment, followed by Ron. They got settled, and then Harry joined them. When he sat down, Hermione excused herself to go to the loo.

Once out of the compartment, Hermione spotted a glimpse of red hair about three compartments down. She hurried over, and stuck her head in. Fred and George were sitting in there, talking, and looking happier than either of them had looked when talking together all year. "Hey," Hermione said. "I was looking for Neville, have you seen him?" Obviously, she was not really looking for Neville.

"Neville?" George asked. "Why would we have seen Neville?"

"Just wondering," Hermione said quickly. "Well, I'll just move on then." She gave Fred a look, trying to make it look urgent to him, but hoping that George didn't see it. She knew George knew something about them, but she didn't really feel comfortable talking about it in front of him.

Hermione backed up out of view from that compartment. Luckily, the one next door was empty. Sure enough, Fred came out of the compartment shortly afterwards.

Hermione went in to the empty compartment, and Fred followed. He looked expectantly at her. "Yeah?"

Hermione grinned. "I broke up with Viktor."

Fred looked dumb-struck. "What? Really? What about Rita Skeeter?"

"She's in my bag," Hermione answered smoothly, moving towards him.

He backed up. "Hang on, so are you saying…"

Hermione stopped walking towards him. This wasn't the way she wanted it to go. He didn't actually seem happy, which is not what she was expecting. "I'm saying that I want to be with you. Don't you want that?"

His face told her everything. He just looked into her eyes, and they were filled with sadness and pity. The pity made her mad.

"So, what? You just wanted me when you couldn't have me?" she shot. She couldn't believe this. She had opened herself up to him, and he was just going to drop her.

"It's not that," Fred said. He put his hands on her shoulders. "Listen. I know you think that we can be together, but we're still going to hurt people. It's not Harry this time. But this will hurt Ron."

"Ron? But-"

"Hang on. Let me finish. He couldn't handle it. And, I know, that one day, you'll regret choosing me over him." He at least had the decency to look embarrassed about saying this.

Hermione was so upset that it took her a second to think of what to say. When she did speak, she was shouting. "I don't know who you think you are, but I am not just something to pass to your little brother! What makes you think you can just- just- assign me to him! Are you completely-"

She probably would have continued for a lot longer, but he cut her off. "This is hard for me too, Hermione! And I can't handle this right now." He turned around, and left. Just like that, Hermione was alone in the compartment.

She sank to the floor, feeling the tears begin to slide down her cheeks. Hermione had a momentary thought briefly about how she had promised that she would never fall apart over a guy, but here she was. And she really didn't care how pathetic she was.

She had been so happy, just moments before. She wanted to be with Fred. And she wanted the world to know she was going to be with Fred. As embarrassing as the situation was, that afternoon in the closet was probably one of the best moments of her life. Hermione had felt so right in his arms, and now she would never be again.

A soft knock came from the door. Before Hermione had a chance to answer, it opened. It was Ron. "Hey, Hermione," he said gently. "Fred told me you were here."

Hermione burst out into actual sobs at the sound of his name. She was so mad! He actually did just pass her off on Ron. It was degrading, and horrible, and she just wanted to scream.

Ron sat down next to her and awkwardly patted her back. "Do you want to tell me what's wrong?"

And how could she? Ron was her best friend. How would she tell him that his brother sent him here so he could put a claim on her? She had a feeling this would upset him just as much. Hermione shook her head.

"Alright," Ron said, softly. He wrapped his arms around her, and she leaned her head on his shoulder, taking comfort in her best friend being there, even if he didn't know why.

A/N: Yeah. Sorry guys. It's just the way the story goes. Hopefully they'll get back together, right? I hope it works out anyway.

So, thanks for all the awesome reviews on the last chapter. I knew I just had to show off my awesome math skills to get people to review. I'm even going to respond to some of them right now, just to show how grateful I am.

x its kikii – Glad I turned you to the Hermione/Fred darkside.

Slmncpm - I suppose that is the good reason for not reviewing, but it makes me sad when I don't know how people feel about it. I wouldn't mind getting bad reviews. Btw, you have a weird name.

Queen Daenerys – Sorry I lost you with the name change. Was afraid of that, but glad you found it. Of course you can translate this to Spanish, as long as you say that I wrote it. But, if I were you, I'd wait until I finish before you start. You may not like it this much the whole way through. But I hope you do!

Larrabee – I hope it doesn't either. That would be tragic.

To everyone else, thanks! I appreciate your reviews so much!

I have a really busy weekend coming up, so I probably won't update until next week. Like Tuesday. Sorry. Told you not to get used to these quick updates. This has been a really long A/N, so I'm going to stop writing. You guys rock!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: So, it's not Tuesday. You still get a new chapter, yay!

Disclaimer: Not mine!

Hermione was not going to let a house scare her. She was determined. Facing hundreds of Dementors, that was scary. Being attacked by a Baslisk, that was also scary. Getting past a three-headed dog, that was absolutely terrifying.

This house only had some house-elf heads on the wall. That's not too bad. She was gong to make it. After all, if she screamed, she was pretty sure she could wake up the whole house to help her. Not that she really wanted to do that.

Hermione tiptoed down the stairs, still trying to be as silent as possible. She avoided the umbrella stand and literally held her breath as she passed the portrait of Mrs. Black. After what seemed like ages, Hermione finally made it to the kitchen.

Unfortunately, it wasn't empty. She could here the sounds of someone going through cabinets. The noise startled her at first, making her jump. But she was so hungry; she decided to face whoever was in there. Even if it was him.

And it was. Hermione opened the door to the kitchen and could see him with his back to her, trying to quietly pull out a pan. She knew it was Fred. Of course it would be Fred.

After a momentary argument with herself about whether or not she was hungry enough to put up with a conversation with him, she decided to go back to bed. Unfortunately, as she turned to leave, her stomach growled loudly. So loud, in fact, that the sound alerted the Weasley standing behind her.

"Hermione," he whispered, sounding exciting to see her. "I heard you got here today. What's it been, a whole week since we've seen each other?"

Hermione turned around, trying to put together exactly what she was going to say to him. And then she caught sight of his smiling, peaceful face. He seemed happy to see her and not at all upset by the fact that he had broken up with her eight days before.

That's when Hermione had a wave of realization. She strained to see face in the dim lighting. She looked for the freckle on Fred's face that was darker than all the others, about an inch below his left eye. It wasn't there.

"Oh," she sighed in relief. "You're George."

"Yes, ma'am. Can I make you anything? I'm having eggs." George was now waving his wand and making eggs break over the pan he successfully removed.

"Eggs would be wonderful," Hermione said, taking a seat at the table. Normally, an awkward conversation with George would have been enough to make her leave. But she was starving to death.

"Didn't Mum offer to cook you a ten course meal when you got here? I figured she would have," George asked.

Hermione blushed. "Yes. I didn't want to trouble her," was her quick response. However, the truth was she had heard Fred talking in the kitchen and thought it best to just go upstairs.

"Can understand that. Anymore stress and that woman might explode. Scrambled?"

"Over-easy?" Hermione asked, hoping that George could handle that.

He nodded, and continued cooking with his wand, the wonder of which Hermione could hardly suppress. Cooking was one of the things that it was hard to imagine magic helping with, for some reason.

"So," Hermione started, trying really hard to come up with conversation. "Why are you still awake?"

"Just finished a letter to Angelina," he said, casually. "I do my best work at night. Writing letters from here is pretty complicated, what with that not being able to talk about anything at all. However, I have to let her know how much I love her on a weekly basis; so, I do what I have to." He was plating the eggs now, and sent her plate flying with his wand. It landed roughly in front of her.

"You and Angelina are together?" Hermione asked, surprised, but more hungry than surprised. She began to dig in to her egg. It was delicious.

"Yeah," he said, rubbing the back of his neck, as he sat down across from her with his own plate. "Since January. Just kind of happened."

"Oh, right." A memory had just come back to Hermione. It was something Fred had said about a hundred years ago in the Gryffindor common room. "At the Yule Ball." Obviously, she hadn't given much thought to that situation since that night.

"Yeah," George agreed. "Well, no. But shortly after that, yeah."

Hermione nodded and turned back to her eggs. She couldn't think about anything to add to the conversation. After all, last time she engaged with a conversation about relationships with a Weasley twin, it ended strangely.

"If you don't mind me bringing it up," George said. "He's missed you."

Hermione snorted. "Who? Ron?"

"Yeah. Ron talks about his feelings with all the time," George said sarcastically. "No, Fred misses you."

"And he talks about it with you?" Hermione asked skeptically, a little taken aback that George was actually talking about this with her. She knew that he had known about them, but they had never spoken about it.

"Well, not exactly," George admitted. "Weasley men aren't much to talk about their feelings, I suppose. But, I know he does."

"How? Some strange twin sense thing?" Hermione asked. She knew she was being difficult, but she was in an uncomfortable situation.

"No," George seemed that he was starting to regret the whole thing. "He just looked very sad."

"Why would he be sad?" Hermione said bitterly. "He's the one who doesn't want to date."

"He does want to date you, Hermione."

"But he said-"

"Forget what he said; remember what he didn't say."

Hermione stared at him. "That doesn't even make sense. He just went on about how I belonged to Ron."

George rolled his eyes. "I'm sure he didn't say belonged _to_. He said _with._"

"That's just semantics. And I still don't think that it's true."

"Hermione!" George was almost yelling now. "Honestly, you are the smartest witch in your year. Can you seriously not see that Ron is crazy about you? But that's really not the point of this. I'm not sure why two of my brothers have fallen for you, but they have. And if you want to be with Ron, for Merlin's sake, go ahead. But Fred missed you last week."

Hermione was stunned for a moment, not sure what to say. Never had George ever really said that much to her before. And she was a little indignant about being spoken to like a child. "Well," she started, "I don't see how it's any-"

A loud crack interrupted her. She turned to see that Fred had just Apparated behind her. "Oh," he said looking surprised to see her. "Hermione. I thought I heard George come down here. Aren't you going to make me eggs, George, my dear brother?" he asked, quickly disguising his surprise with an imitation of Percy.

"Absolutely. I was also thinking about some toast and tea as well. Hermione?"

"Sure," Hermione mumbled, distracted by the recent arrival of their topic of discussion.

"Excellent," George said, standing up and heading back to kitchen area to prepare more food. Fred sat down, and tried to avoid looking Hermione in the eyes.

It was a fully awkward minute. George was cooking, talking about something or the other. Hermione wasn't bothering to listen, because Fred was responding, so she figured she didn't have to.

And then it got even more awkward. "Why are we all awake?" Ron said, yawning and scratching his head as he stumbled into the kitchen.

"Food," George said simply. "Midnight breakfast?"

"Definitely breakfast," Ron exclaims. "I'm starving." He sat down at the table with Hermione and Fred. After a few moments of sitting, staring between the two of them, Ron started talking again. "So, a good first night so far, Hermione?"

"Mmm," Hermione said noncommittally.

"Must be. She's spending it with us," Fred chirped.

"You seem really quiet," Ron said, sounding worried.

"Long journey. I'm tired," Hermione said, hoping he would stop asking her questions.

"And she's hungry," George added, as he put a pot of tea on the table. "She liked my eggs."

"So," Ron started again, pouring himself a cup. "How's Krum doing?"

Hermione quietly sighed and wondered if it would have been worth it to go hungry tonight. It was going to be a long summer.

A/N: Hope you liked! Please review!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Not mine!

Ron did not stay long in the kitchen, for which Fred was very grateful. This was turning into a very awkward conversation. While Hermione admitted to breaking up with Krum, she wasn't really giving a good explanation why, which Fred understood. When he announced that he was going to bed, merely a half an hour after he had arrived, Fred left out a sigh of relief.

As soon as he left, George looked between Fred and Hermione, and, with a very definite wink in Hermione's direction, he Disaparated. That threw Fred off a little bit. He had figured that Hermione and George had been talking before he arrived, but he didn't think that they had been talking about him.

Hermione started to rise, slowly.

"Were you two talking?" Fred asked, trying not to sound defensive.

"Yes," Hermione said, defiantly. "Is that allowed?"

"Well, I suppose I should say, were you talking about me?" Fred felt slightly betrayed by his brother. Living in the same house as Hermione for the summer would be difficult enough without George interfering.

Hermione had turned bright red. "You know, I've had it with you. Both you and your stupid brother think that you can talk to me like I'm a child. I know perfectly well what is going on here, and I wish you two would treat me like I'm at least competent. And, for the record, I can speak to whoever I want about whatever I want." She hadn't shouted, but her voice had become a lot more intense than Fred had ever heard. And, like usual, he thought she looked beautiful.

He shook off the feelings. "What did he say?" he asked cautiously.

Hermione sat back down, but starting avoiding eye contact again. "He said you miss me," she muttered.

Fred sighed. That was true, at least. Still he didn't particularly want her to know that. He still had feelings for Hermione, but knew that he shouldn't act upon them. "You know that nothing-" he started to explain. This was not the right thing to say.

"Yes," Hermione snapped. "I know. I have been 'passed' to Ron. You obviously know what's best for anyone and I no longer have any say in the decision." She started getting to her feet again, flushed bright red.

Fred angrily got to his feet. "You act like this is easy, Hermione. This isn't what I want."

"Then what do you want?" she shot back.

Fred struggled with his words. He couldn't figure out how to explain to her that he just wanted her. He wanted to hold her everyday, and be able to talk everyday, and to her kiss her whenever he wanted, no matter who was around, everyday, and to hold her hand everyday, and to do all those other mushy things that couples do, and for him to be able to do all these things without Ron caring. But Fred did not say this. Words failed him. "I don't know."

"Of course you don't," she said, suddenly sounding tired. "You have no idea what you want. One minute, you want to be with me, the next you've decided that you don't."

"Look at the big picture, Hermione. You and Ron are going to be together eventually. That's how this story is going to go. I know it. George apparently knows it. Hell, you and Ron probably know it on some level. Even if we started dating, you would leave me for him eventually. I don't know what I would do if that happened." Wow. Fred knew what he said was true, but still wished he hadn't said it.

Hermione looked surprised that Fred had said that. She started walking over to him, crossing the room in just a few seconds. "You really think that," she slowly. It wasn't a question

"Yes," Fred responded.

She took his hand in her hand, and smiled. "You know, I never figured you were worried about me hurting you."

"That's not all-"

"Shh." Hermione put a finger over his lips. "I'm not going to. You should know that I wouldn't."

Fred couldn't help himself again. It's what usually happened when Hermione got close to him. Be slowly bent down, and kissed her, very softly.

She responded for a few seconds. Her arms came up over his shoulders as she kissed him back. Then she pulled away.

"No," she sighed. "We shouldn't do that yet."

Fred pulled back. "When should we, then?"

"Listen," Hermione started. "We need to figure out what we're going to do about us. And though kissing you is very nice, I think we need to do something a little more constructive. Like talking." She sat down at the table once again, and motioned for Fred to take a seat opposite her.

Though Fred was not morally opposed to talking, he would much rather be kissing. After all, they hadn't kissed since February. That was four months ago. Besides, talking would bring up reasons why they couldn't kiss anymore. Namely, that reason was Ron. Reluctantly, Fred sat down. "Alright."

"Alright," Hermione said, smiling. "Let's start with something simple. How was your year?"

Fred was taken aback. "Fine," he said, suspiciously. "How was your's?"

"Could have been better," Hermione admitted.

Fred didn't get it. What was the point of this? "Aren't we going to discuss, oh I don't know, me and you dating?" Fred asked.

Hermione's smile wavered. "Eventually."

"But we can't, Hermione. Nothing has changed." It killed him to say that.

"Yes, it has, Fred. We now know that you think I'm going to hurt you. And I know I'm not." She tried to smile again, but it looked much weaker than before.

"I know that you think you won't-"

"You-Know-Who is back, Fred," she said suddenly.

"Yes," Fred replied, confused again. "I've heard. But that still doesn't change anything."

Hermione now looked dead serious. "You make me happy. I'm not sure if you realized this, but because of my friendship with Harry, I'm a target. And the fact that I'm Muggle-Born doesn't help either. And if I don't have that much longer left to live, I'd rather be happy. Do you see what I'm saying?"

Fred hadn't thought of it that way. Yes, the fact that You-Know-Who was back had weighed heavily on his mind, but he had never really considered the fact that me might come after Hermione. Now that she brought it up, Fred realized that pretty much everyone he cared about was at risk. Including himself. "I see your point," he muttered.

Hermione smiled again. "Who would belief this? I, Hermione Granger, am telling Fred Weasley to live for the moment," she laughed. Fred joined in, glad to have a tension breaker. Hermione then continued, sounding serious again, "We should be together, even if it's not permanent, because we make each other happy."

"Yeah," Fred agreed, really feeling like she had a point, but also knowing that the week without Hermione had been hell and he never wanted to experience it again.

"So… what do you want to do about Ron?" Hermione asked. Ron always had to ruin everything.

Fred came up with a suggestion, not that he had been thinking of ways to get around this for last week. "We could not tell him?"

Hermione seemed to ponder this for a while. "Then we wouldn't be able to tell anyone," she said quietly.

"A secret relationship would be fun?" Fred suggested again. He really wanted to avoid seeing Ron's face when he learned about them being together.

Hermione chewed on her lip. "You know," she said after a moment. "We'll do a trial. Just for this summer. We'll have a 'secret relationship.'" Fred felt his heart leap. He didn't care if he couldn't tell anyone. He was now dating Hermione Granger. "We'll see how it works and reevaluate it in August."

Funny how dating Hermione Granger seemed a little like a business deal. "Alright," he said, extending his hand. Hermione gladly shook it.

"So, how is Weasley Wizard Wheezes doing?" she asked, resuming their conversation.

The two of them ended up talking, until nearly four in the morning. Fred walked Hermione to her room, and settled for a kiss on the cheek. He practically bounced to his room, where George was snoring happily from his bed. Fred went to bed, glad he had resolved everything with Hermione. He was a little concerned about the secret thing, but at least he was happy.

A/N: Please review, guys!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: See? I told you all weeks weren't going to be like last week. This week, not so many updates. I'm sorry about that. I also kind of hit a writer's block thing. Hopefully, it should pick up.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Well, I do own some things, but nothing related to Harry Potter. That's all J.K. Rowling's.

Hermione found herself creeping around the upstairs of Order of the Phoenix Head Quarters for the tenth time this summer. She knew she must like Fred if she was willing to face these house-elf heads night after night. Luckily, it bothered her less these days; she had gotten used to it. She just tried not to look at them.

She saw the light on under the drawing room door. They had just started cleaning this room, and they both knew it was safe to be in, as long as they didn't go near the curtains. She opened the door to find Fred standing in the room, waiting for her.

"Hey," he said, smiling. She smiled in response as he came forward, took her hands, and kissed her on the cheek. "How are you?"

Hermione and Fred sat down on the couch, still holding hands. "I'm alright. Worried about Harry. How are you?" They had been starting most nights this way. Hermione had enforced a strict, no kissing rule since the other night. Fred was cooperative, with the rules. They had done a lot of talking, talking about a lot of things. They talked about S.P.E.W, and Fred had acted interested. They talked about Weasley Wizard Wheezes, and Hermione had acted interested. They talked about the Percy situation, the Order, what they were going to do about You-Know-Who, and other less serious things and they had been genuinely interested.

"I'm alright. We have a great new idea for another Skiving Snackbox treat."

Hermione glared at Fred.

"And I'm also worried about Harry," he said quickly. "Being attacked by Dementors in the middle of a Muggle Town? That's insane."

"Thank you," Hermione said, smiling. "Am I doing it again?"

"Being beautiful?" Fred suggested, leaning forward for another kiss on the cheek. "Or being slightly controlling?"

Hermione smiled. "Sorry. I'm working on it."

"I know you are," Fred said. "So, listen, I've been thinking."

Hermione had been waiting for this. She hadn't kissed Fred since the beginning of July. It was now the beginning of August and this was getting ridiculous. She knew that she had started the whole "not kissing, lots of talking" aspect of their relationship, but she had figured that Fred would eventually try to kiss her. And she couldn't wait anymore. "Thinking about what?" she asked, slyly.

"About us," he said with a wicked grin. "And I've decided that we should let that Boggart out of desk."

Hermione's face fell. "Oh." She missed kissing. She was going to have to do this herself. She had really hoped he would be a typical boy, but apparently not. "Well – "

Fred broke out in a wide grin, looking like a kid in Honeydukes. "You wanted to kiss me," he said in a sing-song voice.

Hermione felt her face flush. "I… well… "

"Ha!" Fred laughed. "I knew I'd get you eventually."

Hermione stood up awkwardly. "You said something about the Boggart."

Fred's brow furrowed. "I just said something to make you admit that you wanted to kiss me," he looked rather disappointed. Hermione was glad.

"Yes, but I haven't. So, why did you want to let the Boggart out of the desk?"

"I…err… just something to do. We really shouldn't do that. Mum will notice if it's gone."

Hermione knew this. She also knew she couldn't do magic so messing around with a Boggart would be a terrible idea. But she was still not about to admit that she wanted to kiss Fred. She had no idea why she was doing something so reckless just to prove a point, but she was. "If we open the desk from the top, we can look in and it can't get out," she suggested, walking over to the shaking desk. "Do you know what you're most afraid of," she said, with a small smile. She could see that Fred was now regretting mentioning the Boggart at all.

"No," Fred said slowly. "I guess we actually have to do this now, don't we?" he sighed.

Hermione gestured for him to come over to her. He did, pulling out his wand. "Okay, ready?" she asked, really wondering why she had gone so crazy over a boy. She was about to let a Boggart out when she didn't have a wand and the person she was with had no intention of killing it. She had gone mad.

But she opened it anyway, very slowly and from the top. Fred took a couple of steps back so the Boggart would only sense Hermione. She gasped as a huge snake started rising from desk, as thick as a tree trunk, uncurling and rising up, as if to strike.

Hermione knew that this was a terrible idea. She didn't even have a wand, she thought wildly as the snake drew its self up, even taller. She gasped for air, as it all seemed to have left her lungs. That snake was staring down at her, its fangs sharp as knives and dripping with poison.

She felt an arm on her shoulder. "Come on," a calm voice was saying, pulling her away from the huge serpent. She started backing up on her own as Fred started advancing on the snake, causing it to change shape. Hermione slowly felt herself calm down as the snake slowly melted into a new shape.

And then felt herself be overcome with confusion as she could clearly see herself now, standing where the snake had just been. Hermione and Ron were standing in the desk, looking down at something at their feet. They were both crying, as tears streamed down their face. Ron was gently clasping Hermione's hand.

Real Hermione was a little taken aback at how Boggart Hermione appeared. She seemed prettier, more poised than Hermione saw herself, but also looked as though she had been crawling around in dirt for hours. It was a very strange image. She looked at Fred, questioningly.

"Really?" Fred said, surprised. "That? That's ridiculous, I've never been that short." Fred then waved his wand and saying the incantation. The image began to shrink. The Boggart slowly disappeared behind the drawer in the desk, and Fred was able to slam it shut. The desk shuddered, menacingly, but they knew that it was not about to attack.

Hermione noticed that tears were about to make an appearance on her face. "What was that?" she asked Fred, trying to keep her emotions at bay. That snake, though she had not expected it, was so terrifying, that even the memory made her tremble.

"Some dream," he said dismissively. "It's silly. And irrelevant. Giant snakes? I thought you'd be more scared of failing test grades."

Hermione hiccupped. "You-Know-Who's snake," she whispered. "Or that's how Harry described it anyway. After that whole Baslisk thing happened, snakes…" she trailed off.

Fred walked over to her and put his arms around her in a comforting embrace. "Shh…" he said, softly. "It's okay. You're fine."

Hermione was now sobbing openly into his shirt, soaking it with her tears. She suddenly realized that this was a little embarrassing, but she still couldn't stop crying. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean," she sniffed, trying to pull herself together.

"It's alright," Fred said. Hermione looked up to see that he was grinning. "I'll kiss you; you don't need to do anything else crazy."

Hermione started to laugh as Fred's mouth covered hers. It had been so long. She eagerly responded, and opened her mouth with a gasp when she felt his tongue gently press against her lips.

Hermione felt her knees go weak. She was now using him completely for support, his grasp on her waist the only think that was keeping her standing. And she was so glad that she had him in that moment. This kiss was worth the wait. She could feel the electricity of his touch through her sweater, and could hardly even remember what had just happened with the Boggart.

Later that evening, Fred walked her back to her and Ginny's room. He kissed her once, gently on the mouth, and then held her again. "You are incredibly perfect, you know," he whispered into her hair, and then let go, and Apparated to his room, leaving Hermione stunned at the doorway.

A/N: Please review! I live just for your reviews, in case you didn't know.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: I know, it's been forever. Almost a whole week. I'm sorry. I'm having some writer's block issues. However, they should be over with pretty soon. The next couple might be hard to write, but then it should pick up again. Sorry about the wait.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, places, situations, or things in this chapter. Or any of the chapters. If I did though I'd be able to afford school. Ha ha. No, it's not mine though.

Fred was lucky that the major studying had not yet begun for this year, because at the moment he had no where else to meet Hermione but in the common room. Earlier, he had slyly given her the "signal" as she insisted on having, meaning for them to meet that night. The signal, of course, was one of them scratching their ear. He had no idea what would happen if his ear ever actually itched around Hermione.

Fred had shown it right when Hermione had been threatening to write his mother to stop George and Fred from testing sweets on first-years. He had hoped it would distract her from her tirade. However, at the sight of the signal, Hermione had gotten all flustered and immediately went up the stairs to her room, the one place where Fred could not meet her. Now he just had to sit here and hope that she came back downstairs.

He put his feet up on a footstool. It had been a long day. Umbridge was just as he expected: a complete bore. His other classes were the same as they had been, but now teachers all went on about N.E.W.T.'s, which Fred really did not care about. He knew what he wanted to do after he graduated, and he didn't need exams to it.

Quiet footsteps made him sit up straight. Someone was definitely coming down from the girl's dormitory. He got that brief fluttering feeling in his stomach that he usually had when he was about to see her.

Hermione came into view, smiling at the sight of him. She was wearing a t-shirt and a pair of pajama bottoms. "Hey," she whispered. She walked over quickly, putting her arms around his neck. "How were classes?"

Fred, thought about answering, but kissed her instead. Her lips were such a relief after such a long day, like coming home for the summer holidays. Her lips were now that familiar to him, and she gasped as his tongue brushed against hers. Slowly, reluctantly, he pulled back, looking into her beautiful brown eyes. "Classes were boring. I missed you."

"I missed you too," she said, dreamily, her arms still clasped around him. "But this really isn't the place for that." She looked around nervously at the deserted room, as if she expected someone to pop up from behind a couch.

"Yeah," Fred said, pulling back from her embrace, but taking her hands into his. "Not the sneakiest place to meet."

"We kind of are in the middle of everything. But where else can we meet?"

"You're room is most definitely out," Fred said. He sat down on the couch and motioned for her to sit down with him. "I can't get up there."

"No," Hermione said, sitting down next to him, and leaning her head against his shoulder. "And yours is out of the question. Too suspicious for me to be going in there a lot."

"Yeah, but Lee might enjoy it," Fred said with a wicked grin. "But I guess we're looking at some place outside of Gryffindor."

"Hmm…" Hermione said, thinking. "Oh!" She lifted her head up quickly. "I'm a prefect!"

"I noticed. Back when you were disciplining me," Fred said, bringing her hand to his lips.

"Don't say it like that," she said, giggling and playfully hitting his shoulder. "You make it sound so dirty."

"That's how I meant it," Fred replied slyly.

"Anyway," Hermione started, turning slightly pink. "We could get into the prefect's bathroom."

"A bathroom?" Fred asked, doubtful. Bathrooms were usually small, and sometimes smelly. Also, there was something so off about meeting in a bathroom.

"It's nice," Hermione explained. "I went in there today. They have some chairs and things. Plus, you need a password to get in so we will be less likely to run into anyone."

"Okay," Fred agreed. "If you think that's best."

"It's the best place I can come up with," Hermione said, putting her head back onto his shoulder. "If you can come up with anything better, we'll think again."

"So, how were your classes?" Fred asked. "Umbridge teach an exciting lesson?" he teased.

Hermione's smile disappeared. "That woman is horrible. She has no intention of teaching us anything at all. In our O.W.L. year and everything, and we're not going to do any magic at all. And then she gave Harry detention because he told the truth about You-Know-Who. Of all the nerve-"

Fred crushed his lips against hers at this point. He didn't care that someone could come downstairs and see them. He just wanted to distract her from all the stress that she couldn't do anything about.

She was frozen for a moment, but then she wrapped her arms around him and wound her fingers through his hair, pulling him closer. He leaned against her, and she fell backwards onto the couch, bringing him with her.

Kissing horizontally was not something they had done before. Fred could feel her pressed against every inch of his body. She was so soft and warm. His hands were caressing her sides, not quite daring enough to wander anywhere else. And then he felt soft skin of her stomach as her shirt rode up a little. Hermione gasped as hands found that skin. He lightly skimmed her stomach with his hands, slowly rising them up.

And then Hermione sat up, pushing against his chest.

"Wha-"

"Shh," Hermione said, staring off in the distance. "Someone's coming," she hissed. She pushed Fred away and straightened her shirt. He could hear someone coming down the stairs now too. He scooted over to the opposite edge of the couch.

"Hey," he heard a familiar voice call. Hermione recognized the voice and dropped to the floor, hiding behind the couch. "Fred, is that you?"

"Yeah," Fred responded.

Ron came forward, yawning and scratching his head. "Why are you up?" he said through the yawn.

"Couldn't sleep. You?" Fred couldn't figure out why Hermione had hid. It probably would have been a lot less awkward to explain why they were both here than to keep Ron from seeing her. She was currently crouched by his feet, looking as if she was regretting the decision as well.

"Harry's having some weird dream and it's keeping me up," Ron said rolling his eyes. He took a few steps towards Fred. "Mind if I-"

Fred shot to his feet. "Wanna go to the kitchen?" Fred asked suddenly. "We could get some butterbeers. Might help that whole sleeping thing."

"Err… sure," Ron said, taken aback by the sudden enthusiasm.

With one last glance down at Hermione on the floor, Fred led Ron out through the portrait. Though he was upset to be interrupted while snogging, Fred was glad that Ron was so noisy about coming down the stairs.

A/N: Yeah, and then it's a short chapter too. I know. I promise, things will happen. Anyway, that thing happened again. You know, that thing were there are more people who have me on alert than who have reviewed. You know how I feel about that…. So please review!


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Got you guys another chapter. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or anything else in here.

Hermione opened the door to the room she and Ginny had shared over the summer holidays, hoping to quietly put down her trunk. While more cheerful than being here during the summer, being here for Christmas was still not her idea of a perfect holiday. She missed her parents.

"Hermione?" she heard Ron's voice as she opened the door. He was sitting on Ginny's bed with her, and they looked like they were discussing something serious. Hermione supposed that it might have something to do with the fact that their father was still in St. Mungo's. That was why she was here after all, instead of with her family.

"Hi," she said, trying to look cheerful, yet sympathetic at the same time. She put her trunk down by her bed. "How are you all doing?"

Ron shrugged. Ginny came over and gave Hermione a hug, which Hermione was thankful for. "Dad's going to be alright," Ginny said, after releasing Hermione. "They just need to close the wounds, but there isn't any immediate danger anymore. I'm glad you're here, though," she said, a worried tone in her voice.

"Harry thinks he's possessed by You-Know-Who," Ron said from his spot on the bed. "And it sort of sounds like everyone else thinks he's possessed, as well."

Without being able to help herself, she looked at Ginny. Ginny had been possessed at one point. Wouldn't she be able to tell if Harry was going through the same thing? She was wondering how best to phrase this question, but Ginny answered it for her.

"No," she said, sighing. "I don't think he is. But honestly, he won't talk to anyone. Just sits in his room."

"I'll go talk to him, then," Hermione decided, as she had been looking for a reason to get out of the room. Not that seeing that Ginny and Ron were alright wasn't important to her. But she knew who she really needed to see.

"Good luck," Ron muttered, and Hermione took that as her cue to leave, hurrying out of the room.

Once in the hallway, she looked at Harry's door. She knew that she really did need to talk to him. Harry was seeing into You-Know-Who's mind and that had to be incredibly frightening. Especially because she suspected that Harry was probably going to be important in defeating him in the end.

Hermione lingered by Harry's door for a moment, unsure of what to do. But then, quickly, before she could properly think, she walked forward into Fred and George's room.

They both looked up, surprised to see her there. They had both been sitting on the same bed, deep in conversation with each other. Neither of them looked particularly happy, which caught her off guard. Not only was that disappointing, as she had missed Fred so much and had really been worried about him, but it also made it hard for her to tell them apart.

"Oh," one of them said, standing up. "Didn't know you were coming." He came closer to her, his eyes revealing a slight annoyance at seeing her.

Hermione checked to see if the standing twin had that dark freckle under his left eye. He didn't. It was George, which she was glad about. She wasn't sure what she would say if Fred had been talking to her like that. "Sorry," she said slowly. "I wrote to your mother yesterday, asking if I could."

George shrugged and left the room without another word. Fred was still sitting on the bed, not looking her in the eye.

Hermione frowned. "Did I do something?"

"Hm?" Fred said, looking up. "No. Sorry. We're just worried, is all." His voice was sounded terrible. He sounded completely miserable; Hermione had never seen him like this. She immediately went to him, sitting next to him on the bed. Without a word, he lowered his head onto her shoulder, and wrapped his arms tightly around her. "I missed you," he whispered in her ear.

"I missed you too," she whispered back. She lifted her hand to stroke his thick hair, feeling how coarse it was under her fingers.

"I wished you were here that night," he muttered. "It was terrible."

"I know," she said. Hermione wondered if he was going to cry. She knew that if her father had been attacked by a snake, she would cry. But Fred was, obviously, a man and therefore less likely to show emotion this way.

"He's going to be alright, though," he said. "It'll be okay." He sounded as though he was convincing himself.

"Yeah," she murmured. "He'll be fine, Fred. Everything's okay." She stroked his head and pulled him even closer to her. She felt very protective of him in this instant, and angry at Voldemort for doing this to someone that she cared about.

After a few moments of sitting in silence, Fred sat up. His eyes weren't red, as she had expected. He just looked tired. "I had that dream again the other night," he admitted.

Hermione racked her brain for a dream Fred had spoken about. "You mean that one that the Boggart turned into?" she asked.

He nodded.

"Where Ron and I are holding hands?" she asked, trying to remember the details of the dream.

"It's not so much that," Fred explained. "At first, all I can see are stars, like I'm lying on my back outside, and then you two are there, crying."

Hermione thought that of all the nightmares she's ever had, this one did not sound too horrible. "Terrifying," she said, trying to sound serious.

Fred smiled for the first time. "I know," he said. "I'm really sounding like a two year old who had a nightmare. I know."

Hermione shrugged, slightly embarrassed that he had seen how lowly she regarded this dream. "The scary thing about nightmares is the feeling they give you, not really the content," she said. "You're afraid of me leaving you for your brother. Sounds perfectly natural, given the situation we had at the end of last year."

Fred nodded. "I guess," he said, sounding as if he didn't want to discuss the topic anymore.

"So," Hermione said, quickly, trying to change the topic. "Why did George just look at me like I was a piece of dirt?" She really wasn't too bothered by this, but was curious, none the less.

"Oh," Fred said, sounding surprised and uncomfortable. "You walked in on us at the wrong moment. We were discussing something… stressful."

"What?" Hermione was now suspicious about the way he had blown off that question.

Fred hesitated. "Leaving school."

Hermione's mouth fell open. She couldn't understand. "But… you have N.E.W.T's!"

Fred smiled. "Of course that's the first thing you think about," he said, squeezing her hand. "Exams. Hermione, have you met me and George?"

"You don't care enough about exams to stay for them?" Hermione nearly shrieked. Fred couldn't leave school. It was important. Didn't he realize he needs school to do anything in life? "You can't just stay six more months and finish? What was the point of staying this long if you're just going to back out?"

"Shh…" Fred hushed her, gently touching her cheek. "I told him we should stay. For all those reasons, and a few more. Relax."

"But why would you even-"

"Because Umbridge makes life hell for us there, that's why. And we almost have the shop together, so we don't really need school for that anyway. And we've never really enjoyed it the way that, I dunno, you enjoy school," he explained, a teasing smile on his face. "But we're staying," he added quickly.

Hermione was relieved. She couldn't remember what school would be like without Fred there anymore. She needed their weekly visits to the prefect's bathroom to keep her sane, she felt. "Good," she said.

Suddenly, Fred seemed to realize that she was in his room. "Hey, didn't anyone see you come in here?" he asked, anxious.

Hermione was a little taken aback at the change of tone. "Well-no. Except George. I figure he knows though, right?" she asked, suddenly worried that George didn't know.

"Yeah, but didn't anyone else see you? Ron and Ginny have to be somewhere."

"I just saw them," Hermione explained. "They're in Ginny's room. They didn't seem me come in here, I told them I was talking to Harry." She felt a pang of guilt. She really should be talking to Harry.

Fred frowned. "I think that boy has gone completely bonkers, so you know," he commented, putting his head back on her shoulder as if the discussion was settled.

"Yeah," Hermione agreed, slowly standing up. "I actually should go talk to him, though."

Fred looked startled. "Oh. Of course you do. I'll catch you later, shall I?"

Hermione felt another pang of guilt, this one for the opposite reason. "Well, he really does need to talk to someone right now," she said, logically.

"Yeah, he does," Fred said with a smile that Hermione recognized as a fake smile. "Go."

She thought about staying. She thought that she could say, "Forget Harry," and cuddle with Fred for hours and no one would ever notice. She thought she could put this whole business of You-Know-Who out of her brain for a while and deal with her boyfriend.

But she couldn't. She leaned down and kissed Fred on the forehead, and left, not looking back. She approached Harry's door and knocked before entering, trying to clear her head of the conversation she had just had.

A/N: Hope you liked it. Please review!


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: This is kind of a long chapter. Mostly because it's got a Ron scene as well as a Fred scene. That was your warning. Ron is in this. Just so you know.

Disclaimer: I don't own nothing!

Hermione took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling. The word wasn't awake. It wasn't. That didn't make sense in the sentence. But it had to mean something. It couldn't be that hard to come up with.

Hermione sighed. Ancient Runes was killing her. Literally, this was terrible. She needed to do so much better if she was going to pass her O.W.L.s. It was after midnight and she was still sitting in the common room, doing homework. She had been at it for hours.

The common room door opened, and a bright red Ron came stumbling in, his broomstick over his shoulder. It looked like he had been outside for hours. "Ron! Have you been practicing for that long?"

"Yeah," he said, collapsing into the nearby arm chair. "It's no good. I'm still terrible."

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Hermione said, looking back at her homework. "At least you aren't taking Ancient Runes."

Ron snorted. "Yeah, anything that isn't homework is completely unimportant."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Hermione said, indignantly.

"That you think school work is the only thing that matters," he said. "Quidditch is just some kind of stupid distraction."

Hermione put down her homework. "Quidditch is a stupid distraction. Pretty much everything else you do is more important than that game."

"Maybe you should try to think about something other than exams."

"Like what?"

"Like anything! If Harry and I weren't your friends, I swear you'd just sit around and study."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Yes, because you and Harry are my entire life."

"Oh. That's right. I forgot you have your prefect duties too. You're life is complete."

Her heart was pounding now as she jumped to her feet. "And your life is so perfect because you get to fly around on a broom stick and catch balls. Or maybe I should say try to catch balls." Hermione thought for a second that she might have gone too far.

"That's not the point!" Ron shouted back.

"Then what is? Because if it's not doing it right, I'm not sure what it is."

"Quidditch isn't about getting it right. Quidditch is about…" He trailed off, looking a little misty eyed. Hermione rolled her eyes again. She didn't want to get into how "sports were about having fun." She'd heard it before. Apparently however, Ron didn't feel the need to say this. "It's about trying. And I do that." He looked incredibly satisfied.

Hermione couldn't help but feel like she had just done Ron a favor. "You're welcome?"

Ron smiled. "I'm off to bed. Sorry about that 'you have no life' thing. I know you do. And, honestly, if you didn't care so much about school I don't know where I'd be."

Hermione smiled back. "Sorry about saying that you're not good at Quidditch. You really are alright, when you're not too worried about it, you know."

He got a peculiar look on his face. He started to reach out. Hermione had a strange feeling like he was going to touch her face and held her breath. But has hand changed direction and scratched the back of his head instead. "Thanks," he said a little awkwardly.

Hermione had no idea what had just happened. "Good night, Ron."

"G'night," he said with a little wave. Ron turned and left the room.

Her heart was still thudding violently in her chest. It took her a minute to realize that this was not because she was angry. No, this was an entirely different heart racing feeling. It was like-

Hermione sat down in the chair and picked up her homework. She would not think that. She was dating Fred. She liked Fred. Ron was an inconsiderate git who had just insulted her.

But still… her heart was pounding. And even though that argument had been intense and harsh, she couldn't help but feel that he had enjoyed it. Worse, she had enjoyed it too. And she was definitely reacting in a way that was not unlike the way she reacted to Fred.

Did Ron feel the same way too? Fred had always said that Ron liked her, but Hermione had never really believed him. She thought he was just clinging on to some delusion that he was stealing from his little brother as a way to represent guilt for picking on him as a child.

But it had seemed that Ron had enjoyed that argument as much as she had. He was pleasantly affected by their interaction, despite how negative it had been. And then he apologized? And had he been about to touch her? It certainly looked like it. No, Ron was definitely feeling something for her.

She wasn't taking anymore of this. She forcefully looked down at her paper. Hermione reread her homework and went back to interpreting the mystery word. She was determined not to think about this anymore. Not even a little.

…….

Two nights later, Hermione walked along the dark hallways of the school to her weekly meeting with Fred. Her weeks were so full these days, what with the D.A., prefect meetings, and school work. She was so glad for these nights.

The prefects' bathroom was spotless, like usual. However, unlike usual, Fred was already there. He was usually later than she was, but tonight he was there, grinning as she opened the door. "Hey," she said. "You're here already."

"Yeah," he said, coming forward and giving her a kiss on the mouth, wrapping his arms around her. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," Hermione murmured.

Fred pulled back and led her over to a nearby lounge chair by the bath. They both sat down. "I got you something."

"What?" Hermione pulled back, looking at him quizzically.

"It's Valentine's Day," he explained.

"That's Saturday."

Fred grinned. "And today's Thursday. And I'm not going to see you until after then, so I got you a present now."

Hermione couldn't help but smile. She couldn't believe that Fred Weasley did something romantic on his own accord. Obviously, she knew that Valentine's Day was coming up, but she hadn't expected anything. She had resigned herself to not celebrating it at all. "What'd you get me?" she asked, excitedly.

Fred reached behind a nearby chair and pulled out a single red rose. "Here." He handed it to Hermione and she took it delicately, careful not to cut her finger on a thorn.

Hermione breathed in deeply the sweet scent of the rose. It smelled fresh, like it had just been picked. "Where did you get this?" she breathed, reaching out and delicately touching one of the soft petals.

"Made it," Fred said simply.

Hermione almost dropped it. "You what?" Magically made roses, though common, usually didn't smell like a real rose, nor were they this soft. However, they did last for years without water, which was the real benefit with owning them.

"It took some time to get everything right. George said I was being a pansy for working this long on it, but I thought you would like it. I have several roses that turned into complete mush, and a couple that are blue that are still-"

Hermione interrupted him with a kiss. She eagerly pressed her mouth against him, wanting to show how thankful she really was for this present. She carefully set the rose down behind her on another chair before throwing her arms around him.

Fred kissed her back, keeping his hands gently on her waste. When her tongue gently slipped into his mouth, forever, he seemed to loose a little bit of control he had. He squeezed her tightly, and lifted her into his lap.

She sighed. She couldn't believe how lucky she was to have Fred. Right now, it felt so right to be warm in his arms, surrounded by him. However, his hands were beginning to wander a little too much. She felt one hand slide under the back of her shirt, and though it felt nice, this was usually when she stopped the make out session.

Reluctantly, she pulled back, and smiled at him.

"So you like it?" Fred asked, grinning from ear to ear. He didn't let go of her waste and kept her sitting on his lap. This was fine with her.

"I love it."

"Good. But I have something to ask you," he said, sounding a little nervous. He took a deep breath. "Do you think that we should tell people that we're dating?"

Hermione didn't know what to say. This was not something that she had been expecting tonight. "Why?"

Fred seemed to take this as encouragement. "Well, we have been with each other for about eight months now. We know that we work out. It's not like we'd be upsetting people for no reason anymore. And honestly, I'm not sure if we will upset anyone."

His broad statement of upsetting "anyone" meant Ron. Hermione knew that, but she also knew that Fred really avoided saying his name around her. And she did the same, especially after the other night. And she also knew that Fred was very mistaken about this. "I'm not sure-"

But Fred wasn't finished. "And, I'm going to be leaving at the end of the year and it would be easier to keep seeing each other if people knew," he said all in one breath.

"Fred," she started, though she had no idea what she was going to say. She hadn't mentioned anything about the other night to him. She had hardly even thought of it herself. Pushed it out of her mind, which was easy with all the other things she had to think about. "I don't think that's a good idea right now."

"You don't?"

"No. I just have too much to worry about right now to have to think about outing my relationship."

"It's less stressful than keeping a relationship a secret," he said, which was actually a good point.

"And who knows if we'll last that long anyway?"

"You're still sitting on my lap, with your arms around me, Hermione. And as much of a mystery as you are, I don't think you're about to break up with me." That was another good point. Hermione was annoyed by how much sense he made.

"Things are working fine the way they are. What if letting everyone know puts enough stress on this that we do break up."

"How would we know if we don't try? Do you really want to stay meeting once a week in a bathroom for forever?"

Hermione got up off his lap. "Fred, I just don't think it's a good idea right now. Can't you just trust me on that?"

Fred shook his head, looking disappointed. "Whatever you want, Hermione."

She was a little taken aback at how easy that was. "That's it?"

He stood up and pulled her close to him. "I don't want to lose you," he whispered into her hair. "I wish you were with me on this, but I can't make you."

"I just don't think this is a good time," she muttered.

Fred sighed. "I hope we get to a good time eventually."

Hermione did too. She also hoped that Ron wouldn't end up destroying her relationship with Fred inadvertently.

A/N: Alright guys. So, thanks for putting up with that Ron bit. He's just a big part of Hermione's life, no matter who you think she's best for, and leaving him out wouldn't do justice to the books, or either of their characters. So, sorry for that tiny rant. More to come next week. Please Review!


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: More for you! Aren't you excited? I know you are.

Disclaimer: Not mine!

"Oh! Hermione, who gave you that?" Parvati asked when Hermione put her rose on her bedside table.

She had been debating whether or not to put it out or hide it. She had hoped, however fruitlessly, that the twittering girls she lived with would not bring it up. Obviously, that did not come to pass. "A rose," she said. She hoped they would leave it at that. But she knew they wouldn't.

"I bet Ron gave it to her," Lavender giggled. "They've been mooning over each other for ages."

Hermione sniffed. "We have not. And it's not from him."

Parvati muttered something rude under her breath, but Hermione didn't care. She thought they might give it up, but Lavender came over to inspect the flower.

"A rose, huh?" she said, thankfully not touching it. Hermione definitely did not want this girl touching it. "That means he loves you."

Hermione blanched. "What?"

"Red roses. They mean love."

Hermione had thought she had read something like that at some point. "No," she said, slowly. "That's a common misconception. It's actually pink roses that mean love. Red roses just mean admiration. And it's from my mother, actually, so I wouldn't mind you two stop discussing my relationships." With that, she threw herself down on her bed and pulled out a book, and hoped that they didn't think to correct her.

Lavender sighed. "Well, I guess you aren't that interesting," she said, moving over to Parvati's bed. "Shame about poor Ron, though. I really thought you fancied him."

"No," Hermione muttered, burying her face in the book and hoping they couldn't see her blush.

"He definitely likes you though," Parvati chimed in. "He'll be miserable if he finds out she's getting flowers from some other boy."

"It's from my mother."

"Well, you know," Lavender started slyly. "He has been looking a lot better. And he's on the Quidditch team, a prefect. Even if he's terrible at Quidditch, it says something that he's on the team at all. Maybe I'll… comfort him?"

Hermione felt like hitting her. She felt her heart race, and not in a good way. She bit her lip so she wouldn't say anything. She was especially not going to say that Ron would never date a slag like Lavender.

………..

Hermione was waiting for Fred in the bathroom again. She tapped her toes impatiently. It had been almost a week since her incident with Lavender and Parvati, and something Lavender had said had bothered her. Actually, a lot of what Lavender had said had bothered her, but one thing in particular.

When Fred came in and grinned at her, Hermione could barely keep the question in. "Why did you give me a rose?" shot out of her mouth before she could help herself.

"What?" he said. "I thought I told you. It was Valentine's Day."

Hermione took a deep breath. "Why a rose, though? Why not lilies? Or daffodils, or tulips?"

"Aren't roses traditional for the holiday?" he asked, with his adorable lopsided grin. "Besides," he said as he came forward and wrapped his arms around her. "Don't tell anyone this, but I like roses."

"You like roses?"

"They're complicated," he said, reluctantly. "They have all those layers of petals which just make them so deep and complicated, you know? And the thorns, while some people don't like them, make them the most competent of all the flowers. Like, they can take care of themselves."

Hermione was stunned. She had never heard Fred talk like this before. "Really?"

Fred nodded. "I know. I sound like a great big poof."

Hermione laughed. "I won't tell anyone," she said, resting her head against his shoulder. She was rather relieved that it wasn't his way of telling her he loved her. She was only sixteen. She wasn't ready for that yet.

"Can I say hi now?" Fred asked, kissing her hair.

"Hi," Hermione muttered, glad to be in his arms.

"Hi."

A loud knock game from the door making Hermione back up as if she had been burned by Fred's embrace. Fred paled, and they looked at each other as if not sure what to do. Hermione knew Fred had to hide, knowing that she was allowed to be in there, but he was not. She was motioning for him to jump down into the bath when a voice came from the door.

"Hey, it's me," said a voice that sounded exactly like Fred. "Let me in."

Fred, who was half way into the bath, froze. "George?" he called.

"Yeah. Hurry up; Filch is coming."

Hermione rushed over to the door and let George in. George had never showed up before during their weekly dates.

"Hey, Hermione," he said, grinning widely. "I'm sorry to interrupt all the kissing and what not. But I have some news." He looked like he was about to jump around.

Fred gasped. "They said yes?"

George nodded. "They did!" George shouted. And then Fred ran over and they literally did jump around together, laughing.

Hermione had no idea what was happening. They were acting like giddy children. She supposed that Fred and George usually acted like children when they were together, but she had just been getting used to Fred by himself, where he sometimes divulged embarrassing feelings about flowers.

However, they just looked so happy. Hermione didn't know why, and she could think of nothing. She hoped it wasn't more First Years saying yes to being test subjects, or else Hermione might have to take drastic action.

"How soon?" Fred asked, still jumping.

"As soon as we want," George said.

"Excuse me," Hermione said. They both stopped jumping. "How soon are you doing what?"

George looked at Fred. "You didn't tell her?"

"Not yet," Fred muttered. "Don't be mad," he started. "But George and I rented a store."

"What? How? Where did you get the money to do that?" Hermione didn't understand why they would have done that already. They had months before they were done with school.

"This is the part you might be mad about."

"Did you…" Hermione didn't want to accuse Fred of stealing, so she kept quiet. How else would they have that kind of money?

"I can't tell you," Fred said, shaking his head.

"Our donor wants to remain anonymous," George added, still smiling.

It had to be Mundungus Fletcher. Who else would want to keep that a secret? Who else would have that kind of money to give to Fred? Hermione bit her lip. She didn't want to sound like she was attacking them. She couldn't just accuse them of that. "Oh," was all she could say.

"This is great!" George said. "We can work new things upstairs, and there's still that storage area in the back."

"Yeah," Fred said. "And that front window will be great for displaying things."

Hermione checked her watch. She still had Transfiguration to practice and a Potions essay to write. "Well," she said, trying not to sound upset. "If you guys are going to plan out shelves and what not, I'm going to go back to the common room to do homework."

"You sure?" Fred asked. "Because we can talk later," he said, motioning to George.

Hermione waved her hand in what she hoped was nonchalant way. "No, I have a lot to do. Good luck with the store." And she walked out of the bathroom. She had only made it a few steps when Fred came out after her.

"Are you mad?" he asked, startling her.

"No," she said, gasping for breath. "If you guys want to have your secrets, you can. I'll see you later." Hermione was sure that did not sound calm.

Fred gave her an irritated look. "I'd tell you if I could. But it's not as bad as you're thinking."

"The money is from Mundungus, isn't it?" she shot before she could help herself.

"No," Fred said quickly. Too quickly.

"Never mind," she said. "We'll talk later. I'm tired right now anyways."

"Fine," he said, surprised by her tone. "Later."

"Night," Hermione said, crossly and stormed back to the Gryffindor common room. Fred didn't follow her this time.

A/N: Oh dear. Looks like there's a little bit of trouble in paradise, yeah? Please Reivew!


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: I know! I totally updated yesterday, but here I am updating again. Don't ask me why, I just did. This one's short but important. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Fred Weasley, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Arithmancy, or any other Harry Potterish thing I mention.

Just a week later, Hermione was walking to Arithmancy when two arms reached out and pulled her into behind a tapestry. "Whoa!" she shouted, almost dropping her book bag. "What the hell?"

"Hey," Fred said with a sheepish grin. "I needed to talk to you."

"I'm going to be late for class," she said. They hadn't spoken since the other night, and, honestly, she hadn't really wanted to. When Hermione got mad, she needed time to get over it. More importantly, she needed time to be mad.

Fred checked his watch. "You still have ten minutes, and we're ten feet away. This can't wait until later."

The confines of this secret passage were making her claustrophobic. It was only a three foot square, and she was practically pressed against the Fred while her back was to the wall. "Alright," she sighed. "What?"

"George and I got caught coming back from the bathroom the other night," he said quickly. "Filch got us, and we ended up getting detention. With Umbridge."

"Oh," Hermione moaned. She involuntarily reached for his hand. "Are you okay?"

"So you know what happens in detention, huh?" he asked, smirking. Hermione examined his hand, but couldn't see anything. "No," he said. "It faded, but it did say 'I will not cause trouble' for a while."

Hermione didn't know what to say. "I'm so sorry."

"Hey," he said cupping her chin. "It's not your fault." Hermione looked into his eyes for the first time today and was surprised to see that he looked incredibly nervous.

"What's going on?" she said nervously.

Fred took a deep breath. "We're leaving."

"Leaving?"

"Me and George are leaving school."

"George and I."

"No," Fred said, sounding confused. "I mean, you could come, but I figured-"

"No, it's George and I. Not 'me and George' like you said." Grammar was some how the only thing that came to her mouth when she had been trying to speak.

"Fine. George and I are leaving," he corrected. "Anyway, we'll be going in about a week or so."

"Where are you going? Why are you going? Fred, do you have to do this?" Tears were pouring down her cheeks now.

"I'm not going to stay here and be abused," Fred said angrily. "I'm not going to stand for her hurting people."

"And running away will help that? You're only hurting yourself."

"I'm helping myself, Hermione. You may not understand that, but exams aren't going to do anything for me. George and I know what we want to do, we already have a shop. More importantly, we have product. Look, we can start our career tomorrow. Why stay here?"

If Hermione could have turned around she would have. She felt like she couldn't breathe. "You're serious." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah."

How could he do this? He was just going to leave her, like the last nine months meant nothing to him. "You're morons."

Fred sighed. "I had hoped you'd be behind me on this. I understand that you think school is the most important thing, but-"

"I know that!"

"Then why don't you want me to leave?" He shot the question like it was a bullet. She knew it was a dare.

But Hermione had to think. That question had the most obvious answer. But she couldn't say it. She didn't say anything.

Fred nodded. "That's what I thought you would say." He turned to leave, then changed his mind and spun back around. "You know, I actually thought we had something. I thought that you might care enough to say that you want me to stay."

Hermione couldn't look at him anymore. She stared at his chest. "I do. You're the one who's leaving me."

"I wasn't leaving you. I'm leaving the school. We could still date with me not here."

"No," she whispered. "No, we can't."

He nodded. She knew she didn't have to say how busy she was. He knew that. She didn't need to say that she doubted that their relationship would be long term. He knew that too. "I'll tell you again," he said.

"What?" Hermione asked, confused. She looked up and met his eyes again. She was surprised by how angry he looked, like he needed to get out before he exploded.

He looked away. "I'll tell you I'm leaving again when Ron and Harry are around. Act surprised." And then he left.

Hermione wasn't going to crumble this time. She promised herself. She wasn't going to be crushed. Last year was different. Last year she had put herself out there and had been rejected for no reason. This time… Hermione couldn't actually think of what was different about this time.

Except this time she had to get to class. She wiped her eyes, tightened her grip on her bag, and went to Arithmancy.

A/N: I know. I'm sorry. Had to happen. But I have faith in you guys. You'll pull through. Please review, even if it is just to tell me how mad you are.

P.S. It's kind of funny that it happened on chapter 13.

P.P.S FaithfulHPReader: I can't answer that without giving it away. Sorry. Let's just say that it's not the only thing I'm changing, but I'm not changing a lot.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: More story! Yay! It's another short one, but also as important as the last one. Hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything!

Hermione, Ron and Harry maneuvered their way through Weasley Wizard Wheezes, hoping not to make a sound, nor to allow anyone to see their feet under the Invisibility Cloak. This was getting more difficult as they got taller.

Ron was also getting more irritating as he got taller. He was acting like she was an idiot for trying to get information out of that that shop owner to try to find out what Malfoy was buying.

When they got to the back room, after a quick glance around, they threw off the cloak. "Well, you could have least acted like you knew what you were doing," Ron whispered.

"I was trying, Ron," Hermione hissed. "Honestly, you wouldn't have done better if you had had the nerve to go in there."

Ron was about to say something when the sound of a door opening next to them. "There you are," said a familiar voice. She looked up, involuntarily, and saw a Fred staring at the three of them, looking relieved. Hermione quickly dropped her eyes to the ground. She didn't want to look at him yet.

"Were you looking for us?" Harry asked, feigning innocence. "I was just back here showing them all those cool defense things you showed me earlier."

"Yeah," Ron chipped in. "Like those… err…"

"Instant darkness things," Harry provided.

"Yeah," Ron said again. "Those things that make it dark… err… instantly. Those were really cool."

"Uh huh," Fred said, then turned and shouted back into the shop. "They're here! I found them."

"I looked in there twice!" Mrs. Weasley shouted back, worry echoing in her voice.

"We were here," Ron claimed, as they walked forward back into the shop. When Hermione was passing Fred, however, he gently reached out and put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"Hang on," he said quietly. Harry and Ron kept walking into the store, trying to convince everyone that they hadn't left. They didn't notice that she was still in the back.

"What is it?" She still didn't want to look at him. She hadn't forgiven him yet. She had let him fix her eye earlier, as it had still been covered in a dark bruise, and she had also let him tease her about her needing a good daydream, which had been embarrassing enough. But that was for everyone else's benefit. Being alone with him was a completely different matter.

"Are you alright?" His voice was so gentle that Hermione was startled into looking up.

"Alright? I'm… we're fine. We were just doing something… no danger…we didn't even leave the store," she mumbled, not sure what the point of this sentence was.

Fred rolled his eyes. "Of course you didn't. I figured you were fine from where ever you just were. I was talking about last June. At the Ministry. I heard you-"

"Oh," Hermione cut in, realizing that he was referring to the spell that the Death Eater had put on her. The one that had almost killed her. She shuddered. "I'm alright. Still have to take a couple of potions, but I'll be fine."

"Good," he said, sighing. "I was worried."

"Why?" Hermione shot, suddenly remembering why she was so mad at him in the first place. "You left. I obviously didn't mean that much to you then. Why does it matter now?"

For a moment, she thought Fred might be about to break something. "What the hell do you mean?" he said, turning bright red. "I didn't leave you. I left school. And if you remember correctly-"

"You wanted to keep dating," Hermione interrupted. "Obviously, our relationship would have been easy to continue with you in London." Her voice was thick with sarcasm. How in the world could they have continued to keep this a secret while being so far away? She still couldn't tell people. Especially not Ron, despite the fact that he was incredibly irritating. She realized now that he really did fight with her so much as a way of hinting that he liked her.

He clenched his teeth, and took a minute before he spoke again. "It didn't have to end. It still doesn't, Hermione. We can work something out."

"Why bother?" Hermione said, trying hard to keep her voice cold. She couldn't do this. Being around Fred was just so painful.

"Don't even try to pretend you don't still want to be with me," he said with an overly confident laugh. "Why else would you have been going through my stuff back at home?"

Hermione blushed. He got her there; she had been going through his stuff because she missed him. Though she had been trying to make it look inconspicuous at the time, she had been looking for anything that would show her that he hadn't forgotten. Now she wished he had forgotten.

"I don't want to be with you," she said after taking a deep breath. This was hard, but she had to end it so that there was no doubt this time. "Fred, we were never going to work. It was nice while it lasted, but it's over. Why can't you just forget it?"

"Because, Hermione." He paused and took a deep breath. Hermione knew it was coming. "I lo-"

"If you say that to me now, I will never forgive you." The words came out of her mouth before she could consider them. But she knew they were true. If he said it, she wouldn't be able to keep this up. She wouldn't be able to walk out of here.

Fred looked completely defeated. "Alright," he muttered.

"Can I go now?" she asked, trying so hard to run away and never have to see him look so hurt again. The guilt was eating her up. No matter what she did, she knew she was hurting someone.

He nodded. Just as she was about to leave, he spoke again, his voice hoarse. "He still likes you, you know."

She didn't have to ask who he meant. She couldn't look at him. "I know."

"Good," he said softly. "Maybe one of us will be able to keep you," he muttered.

She spun around, angrily. "What do you mean 'keep'?"

He gave her a slow, heart-melting smile. "I mean that you're hard to hold onto, Hermione. And it's even harder to convince you that you deserve to be happy."

He didn't say anything else. Hermione took that as her chance. She rushed out of the back room and into the crowded shop. Luckily, she wasn't crying now. She had cried so much when it first happened that she doubted she would ever cry about Fred again.

When they finally left Weasley Wizard Wheezes, Hermione took a huge gasp of fresh air. He was behind her. And she knew he would never be with her again. It was definitely over.

A/N: Yeah, I know. It's rough. Maybe it'll get better though. I hope. *Crosses fingers*

So, not to plug my own story, or anything, but I realized that I have a happier story that's Hermione/George if you guys want something cheerful. It's pretty silly because my sister and I wrote it like six years ago, but it's an option. I also know that H/F is not the same as H/G, but it's close enough and you can just pretend it's the other twin. Anyways, it's called Hermione Granger and the Chicken if you want to read it. Just a suggestion if you want to feel a little happier after this chapter.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: I know, I totally updated yesterday too. But I don't have class today. There's a whole lot of snow, and since it doesn't do that a lot here, we don't have class. Yay! So you get chapters. Okay, so this is a little different then some of my other chapters. It's actually scenes that are in HBP, but from Hermione's point of view. Hope you like it.

Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine. The situations aren't mine. Even most of the dialogue in this chapter isn't mine. It's all J.K.'s.

Hermione slammed the classroom door behind her. What the hell was wrong with him? What did she have to do for Ron to get the message? She told him she wanted to take him to the damn party. So, why did he have his lips all over her roommate right now?

She kicked a desk, hoping it would flip over in an amazing display of her anger. However it just slid a little and hurt her foot.

She realized she should be asking what was wrong with her. She was acting like a crazy person. She sat down on the teacher's desk and started rubbing her foot.

This was all Fred's fault. If he had never left Hogwarts, then she would still be dating him and trying to attract he stupidest person in the world. She wasn't sure how their relationship would have worked if he had finished school, but that was a details. It was times like this that she really regretted her decisions.

She missed him. She remembered having his arms around her, kissing him, holding his hand. Why wasn't he here now? Why did she let him go?

Tears were streaming down Hermione's face, now. She wasn't going to let herself get too emotional over him. Ron wasn't worth all of this. He was so immature. He was almost seventeen, the same age Fred was when they started seeing each other. Fred wasn't this immature. Why was Ron such a baby?

She pulled out her wand and started practicing Charms. She conjured a few small canaries that she was able to make circle around her head. Her thoughts could wander less this way. It took intense concentration, to make them continue their circle.

But she couldn't help, even as she concentrated as hard as she could, remembering Fred's last words to her. "You're hard to hold on to, Hermione." She couldn't help but think that maybe she was pushing Ron away some how. Maybe there was something wrong with her? She was continually doing something that told Ron that she was not interested.

The door creaked open. Hermione didn't look up; she didn't want to see Ron right now.

"Hermione?" Harry said.

Of course it wasn't Ron. Why would Ron care enough to come looking for her? "Oh, hello, Harry. I was just practicing," she said, trying to sound natural.

"Yeah…they're – err – really good…" Harry mumbled. Hermione knew he saw Ron and Lavender and was coming to check on her. That was nice of him, seeing as how their original fight was all Harry's fault. If he hadn't pretended to slip Ron potion in his drink this morning, then none of this would have happened.

Still, Hermione wished it was Fred who was here right now. "Ron seems to be enjoying the celebrations."

"Err… does he?" Harry was so awkward when he was trying to comfort her.

"Don't pretend you didn't see him," Hermione grumbled. "He wasn't exactly hiding it, was –"

And then the door opened again. She looked up and saw Ron and Lavender, holding hands. "Oh," Ron said, stopping in his tracks. Hermione was glad that at least she could wipe that stupid grin off his face.

"Oops!" Lavender said in her annoyingly squeaky voice, and she left the room, shutting the door behind her. Ron was still here.

As if determined not to make the situation awkward, Ron spoke. "Hi, Harry! Wondered where you'd got to!" Of course he wasn't talking to her. He was still mad at her. He hadn't been wondering where she had gotten to at all.

In fact, he hadn't been worrying about Harry either. He was just looking for a place to snog Lavender. She slid off the desk, trying not to loose control. "You shouldn't leave Lavender waiting outside. She'll wonder where you've gone." See? That was controlled.

She slowly walked to the other door, trying to avoid seeing that stupid, simpering blonde face that she knew was waiting outside. But she was staying calm. She was staying calm.

She glanced over her shoulder and saw Ron with a stupid grin on her face, as if he had been waiting for her to do something. He was so relieved that now he got to make out with his girlfriend instead of dealing with Hermione.

"_Oppungo!_" she shrieked, waving her wand. The birds around her head soared at Ron. She broke into a run, hoping that they would hurt him. He deserved it.

……

Hermione couldn't believe it. Ron had been poisoned. Poisoned. He almost died. And now he was lying in the hospital wing, sleeping like a rock.

Harry, Ginny and Hermione were sitting around his bed, hoping that he would wake up, worrying about how this had all taken place. And then the doors opened and the twins walked in. Hermione felt her breath leave her.

"Hey, everyone. Lovely day isn't it?" one of the twins said. Hermione couldn't bring herself to look up to see which one spoke. She didn't want to see his face. She was getting over him. She had been moving on and now here he was, standing in the same room as her again.

"Yeah," said Ginny. "It's probably Ron's best birthday ever."

Hermione couldn't believe this. She stared at Ron, sleeping below her. They hadn't made any progress. He was still dating Lavender, but she was getting the idea that he was trying to leave her. It was hope. She had hope. How was she going to deal with Fred being here right now?

Now that he was here, she wanted to forget all about Ron. She had an unexpected urge to throw her arms around him, right now, in front of everyone. But she knew she couldn't.

Everyone started talking. One of the twins admitted that they were thinking about buying Zonko's. He said it in such a gloomy voice, that Hermione knew it was Fred. She looked up and met his eyes. He was looking at her too. Her heart leapt. If they bought Zonko's, he'd be less than a mile away.

But what good would that be? She wasn't allowed to go to Hogsmeade anymore. But maybe she could have found a way. And next year, Hogsmeade weekends might be on again next year.

She saw hope in his eyes too. He was thinking the same thing she was.

Fred broke the eye contact first, looking back down at Ron. She looked at him too. Fred obviously thought that there connection was inappropriate right now.

The conversation went on, discussing how the poisoning took place. This was the second time she had heard the story, so she allowed her mind to wander.

What if Ron never came around? And why was she feeling this way about him anyway? She had a perfectly good boyfriend, and she threw it away for a hope of a possibility with Ron. This was ridiculous. She had nothing to go on anymore.

Of course she would be sad if Ron died. And he had come so close. If Harry hadn't been there, she didn't know what would have happened. It would have been devastating. She was so glad he was still there, but that didn't mean she wanted to date him.

They were all now discussing how the potion ended up in Slughorn's drink. Hermione realized she had been silent this entire time. Distraught as she was, she had to show Fred that she was alright. Quickly, she tried to pay attention to what Ginny was saying.

"So the poisoner could just as easily have been after Dumbledore," she suggested.

Hermione took a deep breath, looking up into Fred's eyes again. "Then the poisoner didn't know Slughorn very well. Anyone who knew Slughorn would have known there was a good chance he'd keep something that tasty for himself."

Fred smiled at her, very softly so that other people wouldn't notice. Her heart flipped around inside her chest.

"Er-my-nee," Ron muttered in his sleep. Hermione looked down at him, sleeping so peacefully. He had said her name. That was definitely her name.

She looked back up at Fred, but he still staring at Ron. He was no longer smiling, but frowning at his brother. He looked guilty, as if he was responsible for this situation. Slowly he looked back at Hermione.

And she knew that all the hope she had been feeling was gone. Nothing had changed between the two of them. She still wanted to be with Ron. And Ron might want to be with her too. And Fred was too worried about his brother to disrupt that.

And that was that. Hermione didn't look Fred in the eye for the rest of the visit, and left without saying goodbye.

A/N: Yeah, I know. It's still not happy. Okay, so, after this, there's going to be like three or four more chapters then it's over. Sniff. Good chapters though. I'm excited that we're finally getting to this part. Yay!

Oh, and just so you know, this is about to go up a rating to T. It's about to get a little more intense. Just a warning.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: I know, I know. I've just been in the mood again. I really should be doing homework though. Ok, remember this is T. So, it's serious now, and all you kiddies should stop reading. (I'm just kidding, it's not that bad. I don't think I even curse in it.)

Oh, and this one's long and important. Just so you guys know.

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Harry Potter. But if wishes were horses, we'd all be eating steak. Ha ha. Just kidding, eating horses isn't funny. But extra credit to anyone who knows what movie that's from. Yeah, anyway, I don't own Harry Potter.

A/N 2: I just updated this. Still basic things happen, but I had more fun writing out some more dialogue. Who says just because a story's finished doesn't mean you can't use it to distract you from school work?

Chapter 16

Hermione slowly opened the door. She peaked around the corner and saw no one in sight. Ron clicked the Delmuniator behind her, turning off the lights in their room. Silently, she stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind her.

They had just been discussing the objects that Dumbledore had left them in his will. She probably could have gone on for hours more on the topic, but the wedding was tomorrow and they needed to be well rested. Now, all she needed to do was to tiptoe downstairs to Ginny's room without being caught by Mrs. Weasley.

Clutching her newly acquired copy of _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_ to her chest, she made her way to the stairs. She softly put a foot on the first step, and then put her weight on it. The stairs creaked loudly. Hermione held her breath and listened hard, hoping that no one heard. Slowly, carefully, she put her foot on the next step. There was another loud groan from the staircase.

Hermione cursed under her breath. She could tell this was not going to be an easy journey. Drawing this out would just allow more opportunity for her to get caught. She decided just to rush down, trying to be as quiet as possible, but the new objective was to get to the room fast. After all, she could always feign sleep once she was there.

Hermione hurriedly made her way down the stairs, each one squeaking in protest with her every step. She reached the landing and sighed with relief. She had made it down.

Then her stomach flipped over. There was someone coming up the stairs. Since Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were sleeping down there, Hermione could only guess who it was. The problem was that she had to pass by those stairs to get to her room.

And then to make matters worse, she heard a definite creaking sound behind her all of a sudden. She spun around to see Fred standing behind her.

Quickly, he grabbed her arm and pulled her down the hallway, towards the stairs she had just come down. He then opened a door, and pulled her into a small closet, shutting the door behind them. "Shh…" he whispered.

"She's going to check our beds." Hermione couldn't see how hiding in a closet would help. "She'll know I'm not in there."

"She's just going to check on Ron and Harry," he told her, his voice barely audible. Sure enough, Hermione heard footsteps going up the overly-creaky stairs that she had just come down.

"Good," Hermione breathed. She didn't want to upset Mrs. Weasley more than she already had.

"We should stay until she goes back downstairs," Fred suggested.

She and Fred were squeezed into about four feet of space, and were leaning against a large shelf full of towels. Hermione suddenly had a strange sense of déjà vu. Here she was, stuck in a small closet, practically pressed up against Fred Weasley. She smiled to herself, cursing fate for doing this to her again.

"So, you guys are leaving, huh?" Fred asked, still keeping his breath low.

"Yes," Hermione said, trying to keep her voice casual.

"Any point in me asking-"

"No," Hermione interrupted, rolling her eyes. She had been asked this question almost every day since we got here. "I can't tell you where we're going."

"Are you sure that you want to do this?" he asked, worry working it's way into his tone.

Hermione shook her head. "Yes, I'm sure. Honestly, why can't-"

"You should keep your voice down," Fred muttered.

"For Heaven's sake," she muttered. She pulled out her wand and muttered "_Muffliato!_"

"What did that do?" Fred asked, still whispering.

"She can't hear us now," Hermione said loudly. "Now, honestly, this is something we have to do. Why can't you just let us go about our business?"

"Yeah," Fred said. "Why can't I just let you go about getting yourself killed? It's not like I care about you at all."

Hermione opened and closed her mouth. It was hard to believe that Fred still had feelings for her. He had been out on his own for a year, probably meeting all kinds of girls. Why would he still care for her? "I have to go," was all she could say.

"Yeah, I figured you would," he muttered. "What else could you do?" His knuckled slightly brushed against her arm.

But even so small a gesture made her breath catch in her throat. "Fred," she breathed.

"Sorry," he said, quickly withdrawing his hand. "I know. It's over, we broke up, yadda yadda. Plus my little brother now practically lives to be in your company. Probably shouldn't have bought him that book on how to properly woo a woman." He seemed to be talking for his benefit now, as if he had forgotten she was in this dark closet with him.

Hermione was resisting the urge to kiss him. True, she had thought she had gotten over him. She was elated that Ron was finally acting like an adult, but sometimes, especially late at night, she thought about what it had been like to kiss Fred. "You bought him a book?"

Fred groaned. "Yeah. George's idea. He thought it would be funny. And it seemed like a good idea at the time. You know, before…."

The pause interested Hermione. "Before what?" she prompted, huffing a bit with impatience. He kept talking in circles, missing the point. If he had something he wanted to say to her, he needed to say it now. She was going.

"Before he got so annoying?" Fred finished, a lame attempt at completing a sentence.

"Oh," she said. She knew that wasn't what he meant to say. But that was probably for the best. She was leaving. She couldn't do this with Fred. Not again. "Well, Ron is very annoying. Your mother's probably gone now, though. So…"

"So, we should leave?" he asked, dumbly.

"That would make sense." She reached out in the dark to try to find the door knob. She searched until her fingers made contact with the cold metal. And then a warm, soft hand covered hers.

"Look," he said, suddenly sounding hurried. "I know you're trying to get out of here without-"

"Fred, I need to go. Nothing you can do is going to stop that," she hissed.

"I know! Gods, Hermione, I'm not stupid. I'm just trying to say that… that…"

"Fred," she sighed, half hoping he wouldn't finish this sentence. And half really hoping that he would.

She could almost hear him deflate. "You don't want me to say it, do you? Still?"

But she did. And she didn't. How could she leave him like this? He had been such a part of her life for years, and she knew… she knew that she felt the same. But she couldn't do it. She felt tears running down her cheeks. "Please," was all she could say through her tears.

"Right," he said, sounding stiff. Hermione held her breath, waiting for the door to swing open, and him to storm out. She waited for the light to stream in, illuminating her and Fred, both crying and angry, and just how ridiculous this conversation was when they were in the middle of a war.

"You ever realize how we're always in closets?" Fred said, his voice sounding suddenly calm.

"Yeah, I guess we are. Or bathrooms," she replied, smiling to herself. She thought fondly back on the days when everything was fine, and they were happy.

"I was thinking about that night that I stopped you from sneaking into the kitchens," Fred said softly, as if he was confessing something. "And I pulled you into that other closet to apologize." He paused. "They're really cramped. You ever notice that?"

She certainly noticed it now. She suddenly realized that she was pressed flush up against him, feeling his breath on her hair. "The downside of having a secret relationship," Hermione muttered.

"Or the upside," Fred suggested. She could hear the smirk on his voice. He was catching himself. He knew what had almost happened, and he was trying to avoid it. "Speaking of which, we really should-"

"Wait," she whispered. She thought about the light outside again, and knew that she didn't want to leave this closet. Not yet.

"No?" he said, confused. "You want to stay in here all night, or something? Maybe some curtains and a throw rug, and you could call it home?"

Hermione didn't answer. She was waiting for him to realize it for himself.

"Hang on," he said slowly. "Did you really want to stay here tonight?" She didn't answer. "Hermione?"

Hermione gently lifted his hand and took it in hers. With caution, she brought her face up to his, and found his lips with familiar ease. She was kissing him, and it was like the last year had disappeared. She knew him, and he knew her.

Without warning, he pulled back. "What are you doing?"

"Kissing you," she said simply. She didn't want to ask him outright. She would lose her nerve if she had to do that.

"I noticed that," he said. "But why are you kissing me? We broke up, Hermione. Why are you trying to… start things? Why now?"

She could see that he wasn't going to make this easy for her. "Fred, I missed you. I still do, actually. I miss you all the time."

"Couldn't tell, the way that you're all over Ron these days."

Hermione sighed, annoyed at the jealous Weasley streak rearing its ugly head now. "Ron doesn't matter." She tried to take a deep breath, but it caught in her throat. "You could die," she choked out. "Or I could. And I'm scared." She felt tears welling up her eyes now, and hoped he couldn't hear how close she was to crying.

"And you think shagging me is going to help with those feelings?" he shot, almost sounding angry. Almost.

Hermione was glad he had said the words before she had to. "No, but-"

But she never got to finish that sentence. His lips closed over hers in a gentle, sweet kiss. And instantly, everything she had been worried about faded. There was nothing in the world except for her and Fred and this closet.

…….

When it was over, Hermione lay in Fred's arms on the floor of the closet. She couldn't remember which one of them had magically expanded the tight confines of the room, or who had cushioned the floor, but both of those things had been a good idea.

"That was-" Hermione started, but had no idea how to finish the statement. She had always suspected that sex would hurt, and it had. It was agonizing at first, a pain which she had never experienced before. But slowly, the pain had disappeared and all that was left was… just wonderful.

"Did I just leave Hermione Granger speechless?" Fred teased. "Didn't know I could still do that."

She playfully hit his arm. "You do that all the time." There was a moment of quiet, where she relished just laying here with him. Then a nagging question came into her mind. "Fred, was that… I mean, have you ever…"

Luckily, she didn't need to finish that thought. "No one before you," he answered. "Trust me, I had to endure a bit of teasing for that, but I couldn't get over you that easily."

"Really?" Hermione asked. "There hasn't been anyone?"

He smiled and kissed her on her forehead. "No one compares. Though there was this one veela girl, I'm not going to lie," he said, grinning.

"Oh, really?"

"Hell yeah," Fred replied. "She always wanted a bit of the Weasley mojo. But I had to turn her down. Tough, but it is my curse. I always attract girls way too pretty for me."

Hermione couldn't help but giggle. "You wish that was true."

"But it is! You will never understand the pain of having beautiful women throw themselves at you. And then I have to turn them down and hope they find someone more attractive than me to be with." He smiled a sad smile and looked at her. He didn't have to say anything else.

She sighed, knowing that their moment was over. The indirect mention of Ron had brought them both back to reality. She sat up and started feeling around the dark closet for her shirt.

"You're going back to him, aren't you?" Fred asked, softly.

Hermione didn't want to talk about this right now. "I'm not really with him," she said.

Fred sighed. "You will be. After all this."

"You're assuming Ron and I will both survive this," she said, pulling on her jeans.

Fred shook his head. "I can't really think of the alternative." He sat up suddenly, wrapping his arms around her waist. "You know, we could leave. Run away, just you and me." Hermione turned to look at him. His eyes were sad, as if he couldn't face life without here. "We'd be happy."

And she was tempted. So tempted. "I can't," she said reluctantly. "There are things I need to do."

He nodded. "I thought you'd say that," he muttered, and flopped back down onto the floor. "I take it because you're getting dressed it means that you're about to leave?"

Hermione stopped putting on her sock. "I was going to. It's probably late, and we have that wedding tomorrow."

Fred sighed. "Fair enough," he said, sitting up and reaching for his boxers. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then? You'll be the one flirting with my brother." He kept his voice light, but Hermione knew better.

"If it makes you feel better, you can flirt with all the veela girls who show up," she said.

"I can?" he asked, feigning excitement. Well, at least Hermione hoped it was feigned excitement.

"Absolutely," she said, smiling and pulling on her last shoe. She pulled herself to her feet, and was surprised when Fred stood up too, even though he was still only wearing his underwear.

"So," he began slowly. "Tonight. This didn't really mean anything?"

Hermione sighed. "It meant everything, Fred." She got up on her tip toes and kissed him on the lips. "I'll try to come back," she whispered, feeling the tears well up again. "I will. And then we'll see."

He grinned. "I guess I'll take it." He kissed her softly. "Hey, remember that time when we broke up at the store and I tried to tell you something."

Hermione, of course, would never forget that time. "Please, don't say it now. I won't be able to leave if you do. So, please…" she trailed off, tears actually streaming down her face now.

Fred nodded. He kissed her one last time. "Goodnight, Hermione."

"Goodnight, Fred." And then she left the closet, tiptoeing back to Ginny's room, leaving Fred standing behind her in a closet.

Later, she realized that he didn't have to say it. She knew. And she thought she felt the same way.

………

The wedding passed like a blur. Hermione had a feeling that something was going to happen, but she had no idea why. She assumed it was because of the climactic night before with Fred. But she was trying not to think about that too much.

Ron was being attentive, whirling her around the dance floor with an ease she never knew he had. The whole time she kept an eye on Fred, who, true to his word, was flirting with veelas. She couldn't blame him for that. She knew exactly what she was signing up for when she had slept with him last night.

Then the Death Eaters came. She had grabbed Harry's hand, and they had hurriedly searched the crowd for Ron. But even when she was calling out for Ron, she was looking for Fred as well. She wanted to see him, just a glimpse before she left.

But then Ron was there, and she knew that it would be impossible to wait to see Fred. She turned and vanished from the reception. When they appeared in the middle of London, Hermione knew that she couldn't think about Fred any more. When this was all over, she would find him. But until then, there were more important things to do.

A/N: You know, it's kind of nice to put out a chapter and know that people aren't going to be absolutely furious with me. Please review!


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: I guess this is a really good week for this story, cuz more just keeps coming out. I finish one chapter and I start the next chapter. Not a good week for my homework though.

Real quickly, I'd just like to say a word to some of my readers.

DatKidKris: As honored as I am that I have inspired you to write, I really, really suggest that you finish reading the Harry Potter series before you finish this. The rest of these chapters are going to seriously spoil the seventh book for you. In fact, you've already been pretty spoiled, which I apologize for.

Zillerbeth: That's what fanfiction does for me too. Fill that gap at the end when you're just so sad that there's no more Harry Potter. I'm flattered that you think so much of my story. Thank you!

Tara-Yo: Oh no. Why not? Can I fix her?

Cloudnineteen: Depends how you define AU. Can't tell you. It would ruin it.

Sorry, that had to come first. I know, it's annoying, but honestly, how many of you read my author's notes anyway? So… oh yeah! DH spoilers in this chapter! Oh, and a general warning, if you really really want a happy ending? I would stop with the last chapter. That was happy ending. From this point on, you might not find it so happy. Sorry.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything at all. Real short, cuz I know you're bored with me. On to the story now!

Hermione walked along the beach outside of Shell Cottage. It was great to be near the ocean again, instead of being in the middle of the woods. The breeze was so refreshing, the air was crisp, and nothing could be better.

Well, things could be better. For example, she was approaching Dobby's grave right now. That could have been better.

She stopped, looking at the marker Harry had created a few nights ago. She still couldn't believe that the tiny creature had died for them. If he hadn't shown up… Hermione shuttered. She knew that she would probably be dead.

She moved on after a few minutes. They were leaving for Gringotts in a few days; the plans were almost in order. Hermione couldn't wait to get another Horcrux in their possession. After they get that one, only two more to go.

Hermione was staring at the ocean, when she heard the soft voice from behind her. "Nice, isn't it?"

She turned to see Ron standing behind her. "It's beautiful," she said softly, looking back at the ocean. "I used to come to places like this with my parents on vacation. I wonder what they're doing now."

"Being happily oblivious?" Ron suggested, smirking.

"Yeah," she agreed. She missed them. But she guessed that her parents not knowing what was going on was better than having your family worry about her. After all, she can only imagine the hell that Mrs. Weasley was going through right now.

"So, I kind of wanted to talk to you," Ron said.

Hermione turned around to look at him. "Is it about the plan? Because I thought we had it all worked out."

Ron shook his head. "It's about what happened in the Manor earlier."

She looked back at the water, watching the hypnotizing waves. "I don't really want to talk about that yet," she said.

"Right," Ron said. Hermione doubted that it would be that easy. "It's just that when you were upstairs, and we could hear you-"

"Ron, please." Tears were streaming down her face. She couldn't think about that. It had probably been only a few minutes, but it had felt like hours and hours of torture. Hoping, praying that she wouldn't give anything away. Being surrounded by those Death Eaters who had picked her because they thought she was less than the others. Because she wasn't pure blood.

"It was the worst moment of my life, Hermione," Ron said, quickly, as if he was afraid she would stop him.

Hermione smirked. "Yeah, mine too."

"I'm serious," he said, getting in front of her so he could look her in the eyes. "Hermione, thinking you could have died up there while I was stuck in a cellar, useless, was terrifying. I don't know what I would do if you weren't here." He was looking her straight in the eyes, and Hermione knew he was telling the truth.

And Hermione knew she couldn't let him. She knew how he felt. But she didn't know how she felt anymore. Her mind wandered back to Fred often, despite how much she didn't want to let it. She missed him so much it physically hurt her sometimes. And she couldn't let Ron spill his heart out to her right now, not when she didn't know what she would do with that information. "You're my best friend, Ron."

He looked derailed, which was good. "You're my best friend too. And that's why-"

"That's why nothing," she said.

Ron screwed up his face. "That can't have been correct grammar."

Hermione smiled, and shook her head. "No, it probably wasn't."

"I've just been feeling this way-"

"Fred told me that the twins got you a book?" Hermione interjected, trying to think of something to shake his confidence.

"What?" he asked, looking genuinely confused.

"A book about getting girls?" she asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking. She wasn't surprised he didn't remember. After all, it seemed like years ago when Fred had told her about the book.

"Oh, right," Ron said sheepishly, having the courtesy to blush. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Hermione just stared at him, knowing the truth would come out in a minute.

"Okay," he said. "So, I may have used some tips from a book. Just told me things like compliment you and be there when you're upset. It's not like I wouldn't have done those things, anyway, it was just some encouragement." He gave a little shrug at the end, as if hoping that she would forgive him.

Honestly, she wasn't mad. But she knew that she needed him to think she was. "So you didn't actually believe all those nice things you said about me." She crossed her arms and gave him a stern look.

"Hermione," he said with a lopsided grin. "You know I did."

She showed no emotion. "Do I?"

Ron sighed. "Of course, I meant those things. You're beautiful, and smart, and you know that I know that. So, honestly, why are you bringing this up? Especially because you haven't talked to the twins since July when we left."

Hermione didn't have any excuse for that one. "Ron, I'm tired. Do we have to talk about this now?"

"No," he said, looking pretty deflated. "We don't need to talk about this now."

"Or are you planning on running away again, so we won't have time to talk about it later?" It was a cheap shot. But she took it.

"I wasn't... I'm not… That's not the point of this. Have you still not forgiven me for that?"

"No," she said, icily, and realized that it was honestly the truth. "You just left. Like you didn't even care what happened to us." Don't cry, she thought. Just don't cry.

"I did care, Hermione. It was just that stupid locket. And I came back. Isn't that the important thing?"

"Bullshit, Ronald. We all wore that locket. You were the only one it made act like a three year old."

Ron rolled his eyes. "I've heard this before. Yeah, yeah, I'm terrible. But I came back."

"You said that already. Can we go back inside now?"

"No," Ron said, angrily. "I came out here to say something to you, and you just distracted me. I see what you're doing," he said quickly as Hermione opened her mouth to speak. "You're trying to get me to shut up."

"Why in the world would I do that?" Hermione said. She was stuck in a corner now. How was she going to get out of this?

"I have no idea. But you are."

"You're ridiculous," she said. She tried to walk away, heading back toward the house, but Ron got in her way.

"Hang on. I just want you to know that…" he paused, as if he was going to lose his nerve. Hermione sincerely hoped he did. "Look, having to watch you get hurt made me realize I won't have forever to do this. So, I need to tell you something. Hermione, I-"

"Don't," she said, throwing up her hands as if she could push the words away from her. "Ron, please don't do this, right now."

Ron sighed, angrily. "Then when can I?"

"When… when this is all over," she said. "Please, I just can't deal with that right now. Not with everything else that's going on."

Ron shrugged, and looked down at his shoes. Hermione started to walk away. She had only made it two steps, when she heard Ron start to speak again, "I lo-"

"I slept with your brother." The words were out of her before she could think. Hermione knew she had to stop him from saying it. And if it was something that would actually stop him from feeling that way, then so be it.

"You… you… what?" she heard from behind her.

Slowly, she turned around. "Slept with your brother." She knew this would hurt him, but she had to talk to him now. Ron looked just as hurt and confused as she knew he would. The ocean wind whipped around them, and the ocean filled the silence for a moment.

"You slept with Bill?"

Hermione was taken aback. "No! Not Bill!"

"Sorry," Ron mumbled. "It's just that we're at his house, so I figured something might have happened."

"It wasn't Bill," she said firmly.

"Then who… Forget it." He changed his mind mid sentence, suddenly angry. "I don't want to know."

"Fine," she said, shrugging, trying to act like his anger had no effect on her.

"You always have to one-up me, don't you?"

She turned around again, for what seemed like the hundredth time today, to face Ron.

"You snog Krum years ago, and I act like a fool. Then I snog Lavender, and you act like an idiot too. Just when I thought we might be getting somewhere, and now you've gone and shagged someone?"

"Guess we'll have to wait a little longer, huh?" she suggested.

Ron shook his head. "No. I still love you. It doesn't change anything." He gave her a strange smile, though his face turning redder as he thought about it. "I thought it might, but it doesn't really make a difference."

Hermione's jaw dropped. The word had just come out of him so easily. She knew they were true, but she couldn't deal with that right now. She couldn't deal with any of it.

Ron nodded and started walking back up to Shell Cottage, looking furious, but victorious at the same time. Hermione was so surprised that he hadn't thrown a fit. He had came out here and said what he needed to say.

Hermione looked at the cresting waves. She hoped that telling him that would give him some kind of closure. She really did. Because she couldn't deal with this relationship crap right now. And she knew he really shouldn't be worrying about it either.

And Ron had come out here and told her that he loved her. Hermione couldn't help but allow a small smile to cross her face, but told herself that she was just proud that he was growing up.

A/N: I know. You were all so happy. Now you're all so sad. Sorry. But feel free to review and tell me how sad you are. Slash, I mostly just get angry people going on about how Hermione belongs with Fred and what not and Why the hell is Ron even here, but I like those reviews too!


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or any of the characters and situations in it. I used some dialogue from the book again, so I don't own that either.

When Fred had first climbed through the portrait into the room of requirement, Hermione could not look at him. She caught one glimpse of his smiling face, and remembered so vividly the night they had shared almost a year before this moment. She had left him, saying that that night had meant everything to her. And it had. But now there were other things. Keeping people she cared about alive, for example, was up at the top of her list.

So, Hermione had turned her back, and hoped that he got the message that she couldn't deal with the complicated love triangle she had created right now.

They had to find the Horcrux hidden in the castle. And, also importantly, they needed to find a way to destroy it, and the cup. She looked at Harry, and worked to convince him that asking for the help of the students would not cause more problems. Anyone could help. And with that, she pushed Fred out of her mind.

Harry rushed off with Luna soon after, in search of Ravenclaw's lost Diadem, leaving her and Ron behind in the Room of Requirement. She could feel his eyes on her back. She shook her head. She really had to concentrate. "Even if we find it, it's not going to be much help," she muttered, mostly to herself. "We can't even get rid of the cup right now."

"Hermione" Ron suddenly hissed. "The Baslisk!"

"What?"

"In the Chamber. It's teeth…"

"Can destroy…" she trailed off. The obviousness of it was slowly growing.

"Myrtle's bathroom!" Ron seemed to be having the same problem too. "Let's go." He grabbed her hand and they rushed off through the door. She shot one look over her shoulder to see Fred, just as she thought, watching her. She managed a small smile in his direction before she lost sight of him as she turned a corner.

And then she pushed him out of her brain, as she had been doing the last year.

Getting the Baslisk teeth was not easy, and took far too long. Once she and Ron emerged, they thankfully found Harry quickly enough, as he ran down a hallway towards them.

"Where the _hell_ have you been?" he yelled.

Hermione quickly tried to explain how Ron had had the idea of getting the Baslisk teeth, and Harry was impressed. Honestly, Hermione was too. She had no idea where Ron had gotten that stroke of genius from, but she was so impressed.

They rushed off to get the other Horcrux, the Diadem stored in the Room of Requirement. While they were standing outside of the room, Harry yelling for Ginny to get back inside the room where she would be safe, Ron had another stroke of genius.

"The house-elves, they'll all be down in the kitchen, won't they?" he gasped, as if suddenly remembering them.

"You mean we ought to get them fighting?"

Just as Hermione had opened her mouth to rage at the injustice of ordering house-elves to right for their lives, Ron said "No. I mean we should tell them to get out."

The teeth she was holding clattered to the floor. She had never… she couldn't… Ron had never been so….

She couldn't think. She didn't remember making the decision, but the next thing she knew she had flung herself into his arms and was kissing him deeply.

It was so unlike kissing Fred. His arms wrapped around her in an almost gentle way, but strong enough to lift her up off of her feet. He was so much taller than Fred; she couldn't help but make comparisons. He had a certain lack of precision that made kissing him wonderful. Her heart was fluttering, reason was still escaping her, and she just wanted this moment to go on forever.

"Oi! There's a war going on here!"

Ron set her down and stopped kissing her. The world came back to her. She had no idea what she had been thinking at all. She kissed Ron! How could she have done that? Fred was around here somewhere and she still needed him more than anything.

After a deep breath, Hermione pushed all that guilt out of her mind. She was becoming very good at that. Forget what just happened, she could deal with it later. And the three of them rushed into the room to get the last Horcrux.

After it was destroyed, Harry, Ron and Hermione saw Percy and Fred come into view, both of them dueling with other men.

Hermione only had time to think about how much she had betrayed Fred, how she had just kissed Ron, but how she still loved him. She rushed forward to help him duel, the least she could do, when somehow everything exploded.

Next thing she knew, she was covered in some rubble, and had to struggle to get beams off of her to see what had happened. She felt a hand grab hers and pull her up. She looked, hoping to see Ron or Fred, but saw Harry, staring off at something else.

She followed his gaze. They were stooped over someone. And that person wasn't moving. As if in a dream, she slowly crossed over the wreckage with Harry and saw that it was Fred.

Fred was lying on the ground.

And he wasn't moving.

That couldn't happen though. "No," she gasped. If she could have found the strength to move, she would have thrown herself at him, begged him to move, to stop joking, please stop joking, Fred, this wasn't funny anymore.

Percy was shouting and shaking him. She had a momentary urge to say that he was going to hurt him, but then realize that Fred was never going to hurt again. He was never going to laugh again, or smile, or tell her that she was beautiful. He was never going to say that he loved her, and she was never going to be able to say that she loved him.

Ron came running at her, and she couldn't figure out why. It wasn't until she was lying flat on her back that she remembered that there was still a war going on. People were still dying.

Spells were flying everywhere, but Fred was still dead.

Hermione turned and saw a spider the size of a minivan charging at her, and she screamed because she remembered that that's what you're supposed to do, but Fred was still dead.

"Let's move, NOW!" someone shouted. She guessed it was Harry. Stunned, she started moving down the hallway. She heard sounds of struggling and something dragging behind her, but knew she shouldn't look because they were just moving his body.

Because Fred couldn't move himself anymore.

She suddenly became aware of Ron was walking next to her, tears streaming down his face in a way that Hermione had never seen on him before. She had kissed him, not a half hour ago. And now Fred was dead.

Hermione realized that she wasn't going to let that happen to Ron.

"ROOKWOOD!" Percy shouted, and rushed off after someone. Ron started to turn and run after him.

She grabbed him, and pulled him behind a tapestry with a strength she didn't know she had. "Harry, in here!" she shouted.

She was pushing Ron against the wall, but he was still struggling to move. "Listen to me," she gasped. "_LISTEN, RON!_" She wasn't going to lose him too. Not if there was anything in this world that she could do about it.

She had never seen him look this before. She knew he wanted to do something dangerous, but she couldn't let him. All the grief, all the terrible horrible grief she was feeling. She needed to push that away too. Let it drop to the back of her mind, and maybe, if she survived this, she could find it again.

………

It seemed like hours later when they made it back to the Great Hall. The fighting had stopped, at least for now, and Voldemort was awaiting Harry's arrival in the Forrest.

Hermione saw the cluster of red hair and knew that Fred had been brought into this room. As if in a trance, she walked forward to them with Ron. She had hoped it wasn't true. She had pushed it so far back in her mind that she was starting to hope that she made it up.

But she hadn't. Wordlessly, she hugged Ginny, but staring at the body on the floor. It wasn't him anymore. It couldn't be.

Tears were pouring down Ron's face, and he was sobbing loudly. She pulled away from Ginny and took his hand, the only think that she could think of to do. Slowly, the approached Fred, looking down at his pale face, stained with blood. His eyes had been closed, and he looked like he was sleeping, but Hermione knew better.

She threw herself into Ron's arms, needing something to do, and hoping to keep him with her so he didn't go get himself killed like Fred. Maybe she would feel better… But it didn't. She just began to sob like Ron had been doing.

It seemed to calm him. "Shh…" he whispered. He laid a soft kiss on the top of her head while she cried into his shirt. After what seemed like years, he whispered, "It was him, wasn't it."

They hadn't spoken about Hermione's confession. It hadn't even been mentioned. She couldn't look at Ron, but she nodded. "Don't…" she started, but she didn't know where she was going with that sentence.

Ron did though. "I won't. I'll stay."

And they held each other and cried until Voldemort emerged from the woods with Harry's body.

A/N: Ok. Deep breath.

It really sucks, I know. I'm glad that at least most of you realized it was coming. I'm sorry I had to do this to you guys.

But there's one more chapter. And it's definitely not this sad. So, let's look forward to that one. Probably coming out on Monday or Tuesday.


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: So, it's kind of weird to know that I ended up making a lot of people cry over the weekend. I'm really sorry about that, but that's the story. I knew from the beginning he was going to, and trust me, it was not fun to watch you guys get so attached.

Anyway, here it is. This is the last one. Tear. I'll miss writing this story, but I have a lot of other things that I've been neglecting these last few months that I need to work on. Like homework and what not. I just want to thank all my readers, especially those that don't hate me now. You guys are the best. I'm sorry if my story made you sad, but at least know that there was no other way it could have gone.

PS: Thought about doing an alternate ending where he doesn't die. It's tough. Really, really tough. It might come out later, but I have no plans to work on it right now. Sorry. Hope you find this chapter satisfying though.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter!

Seven Years Later

Hermione's heels clicked as she strolled down the familiar walkways of Diagon Alley. People bustled by, wrapped up in their thick cloaks. Snow was gently falling onto the ground, and Hermione shivered and pulled her own cloak tighter around her shoulders.

She was headed to Madame Malkins to buy new dress robes. They were having a welcoming feast for the new house-elf liaison that was joining her department next week, and she needed a new set of robes for it.

As she walked past a small, dingy little pub that she barely noticed, she heard someone call her name. She looked over her shoulder to see a redheaded man leaning against the wall to the pub. Then she stopped dead in her tracks.

Her eyes traced the familiar path to right below his left eye, where she knew there should be one freckle, darker than all the others.

It wasn't there.

This was George.

"Hello, George," she said, regaining the ability to breathe. She hadn't seen George very often in the past seven years since Fred had died. And every time she had, her body had responded in this way, as if hoping that it was going to be Fred. But it never was.

Then her eyes went to the bare spot on the left side of his head. Of course, George was missing an ear. Yet, out of habit, she looked for the freckle first.

"It's okay," he said, noticing that she was looking at his ear. He took a step forward, and Hermione noticed him slightly lose his balance without the support of the wall. "People always do that. They wanna check."

Hermione nodded, not sure what else to do. It was getting to be obvious that he might be a little drunk.

"Hey. Hey, Hermione. You knew Fred. Wanna come in and have a drink with me and talk about Fred?"

He looked at her with those pleading eyes, like he had been waiting for someone to come along at talk to him. "Alright," she said, figuring she could get her robes after a drink.

She followed him into the inn, which, after a glance to the sign above the door, was called the Dusty Broom. It was as dark and dingy as the Hog's Head was, but smaller. There was a small fire going, but instead of warming up the place, it just made the corners seem darker.

"I was here at the bar," he said, collapsing onto the barstool. "Can I have two shots of firewhiskey?" Hermione sat down next to him. "Oh," and let out a messy laugh. "I forgot you were here. Can we have four shots, then?"

Hermione shook her head. It was obvious that George was still not handling this very well. She took a sip of one of the shots in front of her, and shuddered. She didn't really like firewhiskey. George, on the other hand, took his shot in one gulp. "Don't be a pansy," he said, with a playful grin.

Hermione sighed. She couldn't help but do what he said. She never realized how unsettling this was, to have him looking at her and grinning. He looked just like Fred, and it was almost killing her. She decided that finishing her drink as soon as possible would help. She took the shot just like George did.

He let out a loud cheer. "Yeah, Hermione!"

She gave him a half-hearted smile. "So, you come here often?"

He shook his head. "Just sometimes. Sometimes, it's good to not be in the shop anymore. When I miss him."

"I miss him too," Hermione said, not quite sure what else to say.

He suddenly looked like a great idea had just occurred to him. "Hermione!" he said far too loudly for her to be comfortable. "You and Fred used to date!"

"Not so loud," she muttered, looking around at the almost deserted inn. It was still not common knowledge that she had dated Fred, and would appreciate it the whole building didn't know. She decided that she needed another drink, and took her second shot. The bartender brought her another one, though he didn't bring any for George. That was probably a good idea on his part.

"You know him as well as I do," he said, much softer now. "I guess I should say knew."

The idea seemed to have sobered him up a little. "Yeah," she replied.

"Can you tell me something about him that I didn't know?" he asked, sounding hopeful.

Hermione took a drink, mostly just to stop herself from crying. Her eyes watered up for a completely different reason. She wracked her brain for something to say. "Did you know that he really liked roses?" she asked, thinking of the red rose that still stood on her dresser in a glass vase, though it was slowly starting to wilt.

"Yeah, he did," George said, grinning. "Sometimes he would go on about that. Something about thorns and petals. You know, that's probably why he was so set on making you that rose that one time."

"Their petals make them complicated," she repeated from her memory. "And the thorns show that they can take care of themselves." Hermione couldn't help but smile, remembering the day that he had given that to her.

"He was such a pansy," George said, shaking his head.

"I still have it, you know?"

"Ron doesn't think that's weird?" he asked, very quickly. It seemed like he was slowly regaining himself.

However, Hermione was becoming a little cloudy. She decided to merely sip her fourth drink. "Not really…"

"Doesn't know, does he?"

Hermione shook her head. "No. It'd just upset him."

George laughed. "I have a feeling that'll be the story of your life. Anyway, he worked on that for months. Almost cost him a finger at one point, working with those experimental charms… or maybe that was from working on the Puking Pastiles?" he wondered out loud.

"It's a wonder you guys survived Hogwarts, you know that?"

"Yeah," he said. "It's a wonder we stayed that long too. I didn't want to go back after Christmas, with Dad being hurt and everything. But Fred didn't want to. Oh no, he knew that you wouldn't put up with him if he left school." His face showed that he was looking back on the memory fondly, instead of with regret. "He said, 'I can't leave school now. I'd miss her too much.'"

"He said that?" she asked, slowly.

"Yeah, he did." He signaled the bartender for another drink. He brought George a tall glass of mead. "He was really afraid of what would happen when we left. I guess he had a reason too, though."

Hermione felt tears falling now. "Oh, stop," she said, more to herself than George.

He noticed that she was crying, and clumsily threw an arm over her shoulders. "Hermione, it's okay. He loved you, you know. And he knew you loved him too. So, don't cry."

"Okay," she said, trying to pull herself together. "Sorry. I'm okay."

"So, you failed at telling me something I didn't know about Fred. You don't usually get questions wrong, Hermione Granger," he said, grinning again. Hermione felt herself go weak from that familiar grin.

She realized that she was done with her fourth drink. And she was not a large woman, so she was feeling the alcohol a lot. That was probably why she said, "We slept together once."

George roared with laughter. "Fred got shagged?" he asked. "He never told me. Obviously, that is. You probably wanted to keep that quiet."

Hermione nodded, stealing his mead while he was distracted.

"Ah well," he said, grabbing his glass back from her and taking a sip. "I'm glad he got to have that before… well, before… you know."

It wasn't until he looked at her and pulled her closer to him that she realized she was crying again. "Sorry, I'm sorry," she muttered through her sobs. "I just miss him so much."

"Shh…" he said, pulling her head to his shoulder. "It's okay. You're alright, Hermione."

"It's not." She was almost wailing now. "It's not alright, F-George. He's gone. He's gone and he's not-"

His lips silenced her before she even noticed him getting closer. Deep down, she knew something was wrong, but the familiar scent and feel of his lips was overpowering. She knew that she had never done this before. This was George. But it still felt like-

"Woah," he said, pulling back. "Hermione, I'm sorry. I just… I don't know."

It took her a moment before she could focus again. She tried to dismissively wave her hand, but almost hit herself in the face. "It's okay. It happens." She waved down the bartender. "We just…need some more drinks."

"Yeah," he said slowly, still staring at her. "Yeah, we do. We need some more whiskey over hear!" he called

Hermione giggled, enjoying how nice it was to laugh. "Yeah, more whiskey!"

The bartender seemed reluctant to give it to them, but did, once George pulled out a bag full of gold.

"You know," Hermione said. "You look like him," she said, after two more drinks.

"I do?" he asked, fiddling with his left ear. "I never noticed. It's weird that we were born on the same day too."

"You were not?" she asked, incredulously. "That is so strange!" At some level, she knew she was joking, but she was having a hard time processing it.

"You look pretty in this light," George said. "And so does that lamp. You look very pretty, Mr. Lamp," he said, turning to a lamp that was next to him.

Hermione giggled. "I missed you," she said, not really sure who she was talking to.

He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and held her gaze for a moment. She knew what was about to happen. And she wanted it to happen. "I gotta room here," he slurred. "Want to?"

And next thing she knew she was upstairs, turning down a corridor, arm-in-arm with George Weasley to keep from falling down. They squeezed into his room, which was no larger than a broom closet. There was only a small bed and dresser. They could hardly maneuver around the room.

But Hermione and George found their way to the bed nonetheless, and she felt his arms around her and forgot who he was. It wasn't her having sex with her boyfriend's brother, or her ex-boyfriend's twin. She was with Fred in her mind. It was like having him there once again. She was in his arms, and he was making her happy. That was all she needed to know right now.

………

It was a loud noise below her that woke her up. She opened her eyes and realized that there were no windows in the room, so she had no idea what time it was.

And then she remembered exactly what had happened.

She sat straight up and looked at the man lying besides her. "Angie, what is it?" he mumbled. Then his eyes opened wide.

Hermione grabbed the sheets to her chest. "Oh, my God," she said.

"Tell me…" he trailed off. She knew he remembered. "Shit."

"Yeah," she said, staring at him. Why had she done this? It didn't make any sense. She glanced around the room, desperately searching for her clothes. "Do you see me bra?"

George groaned, and reached under his back and pulled out her bra. "That's what that was." He handed it to her, then laid back and covered his eyes with his hands. "My head is killing me."

Hermione took advantage of his covered eyes to dress herself, hoping out of bed when she was reasonably covered. "What the hell was I thinking?" she muttered as she looked for her shoes.

"What the hell were we thinking?" George echoed. "Angelina's going to kill me."

"Yeah, and Ron'll kill you," Hermione responded, having located her shoes under the small dresser. "I have got to get home."

She heard movement on the bed, and looked over to see George sitting up. "Hermione, I think we need to talk about this for a second before you run out of here." He sounded more serious than Hermione had ever heard him sound before.

"Talk about what?" she asked, pulling on her shoes while still standing up, leaning on the dresser for support. "It was a stupid mistake. We both got way too emotional. I miss him. You miss him. It's over now."

George nodded. "That's a nice summary, but it still doesn't cover what exactly we're going to do. I mean, what are you going to do once you get home? Tell Ron that you messed up and slept with his brother?"

Hermione sat down on the bed. "I guess I really can't get away with that twice, can I?" she asked softly. "Merlin, I've slept with three Weasley's, now."

"You're half way to covering the whole generation of Weasley men," George said, grinning.

She shook her head and buried it in her hands. She was trying so hard not to cry right now. Her head hurt. And she might have just destroyed her relationship with Ron for George, who she didn't even really care about. Just because she missed Fred. "You're still seeing Angelina?" she asked, her voice sounding weaker than she thought it would.

"On and off," he muttered. "This is more or less an off-phase, but she'd still be upset. I know this is wrong, but I think it might be best for everyone involved if we just…"

"Didn't say anything to them," she finished for him. "I think I might have to agree with you." She didn't want to picture Ron's face when she came home and said that she had slept with his brother. She knew that it would kill him. And she knew she couldn't do it.

"We'll forget about it," he muttered. "Never happened."

"Yeah," she agreed. "Never happened. Goodbye, George."

"See you, Hermione," he said with a small wave.

She thought about Apparating away immediately, but instead she walked over to George. He stood up, luckily he was still wearing his underwear, and looked her in the eye. She wrapped her arms around him, and pulled her head to his chest. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.

"Cheer up, Hermione," he said, trying to sound light as he pulled her closer. "It's not like we killed somebody or anything." She pulled back and looked at him, her eyes red and puffy. "I'm glad Fred had you in his life," he said softly, wiping a tear from her cheek.

She nodded, and then noticed something. "You're ear…" The words were out before she could even think about them.

George's hand went up to the side of his head, and he touched the empty hole where his ear had been. "What about it?"

"Nothing," Hermione said quickly. "It's just that…. I didn't notice that it wasn't there last night."

George nodded. "Well, you were pretty drunk," he said.

Hermione supposed that he was right. But she had some strange feeling that last night, he had had both of his ears, but she also knew that that was impossible.

……..

Nine Months Later

The Midwife handed Hermione Granger her daughter, just recently bathed, but still red and screaming from the birth.

Hermione looked down at the beautiful face and knew that she had never been this happy before to have her daughter in her arms. "She's beautiful," she murmured.

"Yeah," Ron said, leaning over to see his daughter. "She looks like you."

It was true, she had a tuft of brown hair on her head, and her eyes were also chocolate brown like Hermione's. But Hermione had never seen a baby so covered in freckles before.

Hermione, as terrible as it sounded, was not sure if her daughter was a result of her night with George in a small inn a few months ago, nor did she care. She knew she would raise the daughter the same, regardless of who the father was. She had also kept true to her word and hadn't told Ron anything about that night. She thought it was best.

But then she saw something that made her heart stop for a moment. She knew whose baby this was. For under her left eye, there was a freckle that was darker than all the others.

Just like the freckle that had been on Fred's face.

It was impossible. But it was there, looking exactly like the one on his face. Hermione had no idea what had happened, but knew one thing.

"Rose," she murmured. "We'll call her rose."

Ron nodded, and softly stroked Hermione's hair, as she nursed her daughter. Hermione knew that somehow, in some way, Fred had been with her that night. And she knew that he wouldn't ever really leave.

A/N: Thanks for staying with me, guys! Please review one last time!


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